Always
by Brooklyn79
Summary: AU. Based after S7. Just as Jane and Lisbon are starting their newly married life something happens to make Jane go AWOL. Will they be able to get back on track after everything that has happened? and what is Lisbon now hiding? Yes another romantic Jisbon drama filled story with a little crime/angst thrown in. A twist to their 2yrs apart. T rating but M later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all, me again.**

 **So for some mad reason I thought I would start a new ff story. I have received a few DM asking me to write more so your wish has been granted. This was a story I started before S7 started but have adjusted some things to fit with S7.**

 **T** **his is AU story so some things are very different to canon. So let me just set those things straight for you... in my story there was no baby or announcement after the wedding. Jane was only on the run for 1 year down in South America. He also didn't run off after Vega's death and he isn't wearing his three piece suits again... yet! there are a few more but you will get the jist of it as the story goes on.**

 **I won't be updating as regularly as I have done but I do hope to update at least once a month and my chapters will be fairly long to make up for the big gaps (so apologies for that). This chapter hasn't been beta as my lovely beta person is pretty busy with other TM projects at the mo (and I felt that if you read my stories and enjoy them then you will forgive any minor mistakes you may find.)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or its characters I just love and enjoy them.**

 **This story is dedicated to wonderful talented FF author Mayzee for always encouraging me and her generous gift to me and my new laptop. She saved me a fortune. :) Enjoy.**

* * *

The door of the newly built cabin swung open. Lisbon's foot forcing it wide as she struggled to keep the large box upright entering their new home.

"Jane! Where are you? Can you give me a hand please?"

After a few moments with no response she placed the bulky storage box down groaning as her back muscles pulled tightly. Stepping over some newly purchased paint pots lying across the main passage she headed out the back towards the bedrooms to find her disappearing husband.

The building contractors had finally completed working on the cabin's structure as well installing their new kitchen and bathroom a week previous. Jane had been adamant he would finish the inside refurbishments off by himself.

Lisbon's observations about the cabin being lopsided had in fact turned out to be correct, there was slight subsidence on the left side and the foundations practically had to be rebuilt and laid. With this major setback to their plans they had to continue living in Lisbon's rented house. Whilst the builders were already in they decided to take full advantage and extend their home by adding some extra space, expanding the kitchen outwards and adding on an extra bedroom basically doubling the small cabin in size and converting it into a very large beautiful house.

It had been Lisbon's idea to slowly start moving their stuff over when the work was finally finished. Jane didn't have much, only a few bits from his airstream, but she unfortunately had years of household goods and furniture to move across. Along with the unexpected announcement by Jane that he had ordered their brand new king size bed to be delivered that following weekend, they made the decision to officially move into their new home.

"Jane! did you hear me, there is still three heavy boxes left in the trunk-..."

Lisbon entered the large empty bedroom instantly sighting Jane slumped up against the back wall. His head was leaning back, his eyes tightly shut as a silent tear ran down his cheek.

"Hey what's wrong?" Lisbon moved swiftly coming to kneel down in front of him. "Jane, What's wrong? She asked again softening her voice when he gave no response refusing to open his eyes. " Patrick. Please. talk to me."

Jane eventually opened his bloodshot eyes glancing down to something on the floor beside him. Sat on the newly polished wooden floor was an old CBI desk calendar. Lisbon reached over picking the desk item up. Jane must have discovered it in one of her storage boxes that he had carried in from the car. scanning her eyes quickly across the page and seeing nothing unusual marked she gently placed the calendar down again rubbing her hands up and over his arms in a soothing manner.

Only ten minutes before Jane had been bouncing excitably around their new home like a little puppy, showing her all the DIY jobs he had achieved over the past week whist she had been working and even suggesting the idea of holding a house warming party for their close friends and family when they finally settled in. But something had happened in the last few minutes to make him broken, slumped weeping on their new bedroom floor.

"Jane, please. Talk to me. What's happened?"

"I f-forgot." He whispered, his words catching in the back of his throat. "I-I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Lisbon pushed, treading carefully in trying get him to open up.

Lisbon looked down at the calendar again. The month of October didn't ring any major alarm bells for her but she had only ever seen Jane get this upset once before and it had involved his dead wife and child.

"Charlotte?" Lisbon said under her breath knowing the little girl was still his main source of his pain and guilt, despite the giant strides he had made to move on from their tragic deaths and get on with his life.

"She would have been eighteen years old tomorrow. My little girl would have been eighteen. And I am more worried about choosing mushroom swirls or green forest ceramic tiles for the god damn bathroom." He spat, lashing out kicking at one of the storage boxes sat on the new polish floor nearby.

"Hey, look at me." Lisbon ordered taking his face firmly in her hands and making him focus on her, hoping to calm him down a little. "You didn't forget. okay? Her birthday hasn't been yet. It's not till tomorrow. You just got distracted, yes, but that's okay, Jane, it's okay."

"No its not. you don't get it Teresa. I swore I would never forget them and look at me, it's starting already, I am the worse father in the wor-"

"Now you listen to me Patrick Jane" she stated sternly pulling his face in her hands back up to look up hers. She kept her voice low but with a firm edge letting him know she meant serious business.

"You were not a bad father. Ever. Okay. Do you hear me? You weren't. Yes, you have got caught up with getting our new home ready but that's allowed."

Seeing his anger slowly disappearing as his eyes softened by her words she gently stroked her thumb across his cheek. his breathing started to calm as her words had the desire effect.

"This past month has been pretty manic for us both. with getting married, the wedding, the house, the builders. Plus, you have been spending every day and night here making this place into our home. No one could blame you for being distracted Jane. But you haven't done anything wrong. Do you hear me?"

"I need to go to her." Jane replied his voice breaking as another tear ran down his cheek. Lisbon guessed he meant back to California to visit their last resting place. Jane wasn't the religious type but being where they were would bring him some comfort at this tough time.

"Okay, whatever you want or need to do." Lisbon nodded understanding fully that he needed to be with his lost family. Rubbing both her thumbs gently across his wet cheeks she wiped away his tears. Jane pulled her hand up to his lips placing a soft kiss to her palm knowing how he was the luckiest man alive for being married this kind understandable strong beautiful woman.

"Come on. Let's head back to ours and get you a flight booked."

Jane nodded allowing his hand to be linked with hers as she pulled him up to stand. As he straightened himself he quickly engulfed Lisbon in a tight hug, allowing a few minutes to gain back his composure. He wasn't use to other's seeing him so vulnerable and emotional. It still felt odd to him being so emotionally open with someone again after all these years but he was trying his hardest to adjust to that new element in his life.

When they arrived back at Lisbon's she offered to go online and book him a flight for later that night on the red eye. Jane had remained quiet on the drive back to hers, staring silently out the passenger window in deep thought. After stripping out of his DIY work gear he showered and changed into a clean shirt and new suit pants. He entered the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his neck drying his damp hair offering to help with dinner but Lisbon ushered out ordering him to go and relax. Jane didn't bother to fight her on it this time and went laid down on her soft cream fabric comfy couch to take a short nap. He suddenly felt physically and emotionally exhausted after his emotional breakdown earlier at their new home.

An hour later Lisbon gently woke him for his slumber by running her fingertips through his soft curls and letting him know his dinner was ready. As they sat at the kitchen table eating the mushroom risotto Lisbon had made, she noticed Jane was still being unusually quiet, lost in his own thoughts, hardly saying two words. Although quiet, he was being very affectionate. He would keep reaching out stroking her free hand or pulling her hand up to place kisses against her knuckles. It wasn't being done in a sexual way but more of a comfort technique that he wasn't even aware he was doing. She knew what had happened back at the cabin had deeply upset him so she hoped her presence and just being there with him was bringing the comfort he was seeking right now.

"Are you finished?" Lisbon asked leaning over the table to grab his half eaten plate of food. Jane nodded sipping on his water as she moved closer it was then as his eyes caught sight of something. placing his water glass down his eyes roamed down the column of her neck lingering on her collarbone for a few moments.

"What happen?" he questioned, his brow frowning in concern and moving her shirt collar over to get a better view at the nasty dark blue/black bruise marking her skin.

"Oh, nothing, just a knock."

"A knock? From what?"

Lisbon sighed stepping back to kitchen sink knowing full well her inquisitive mentalist husband wasn't about to drop this topic, or going to like her answer.

"It was just a little thing, it's really no big deal."

Jane raised a sceptical eyebrow but remained silent giving her one of his serious stares waiting for a full explanation.

"Lawrence Young. The suspect on the Gregor case. He got a bit rough when me and Cho this brought him in for questioning this morning. I wasn't fully concentrating when putting him the SUV. He made a run for it lashing out as he fled." Lisbon said fiddling anxiously with the tea towel in her hands hoping by keeping her tone light he wouldn't go off on one about the safety in her job.

Ever since Agent Vega's death he had become extremely over protective over her and her job. They were at a point that his growing fears was effecting her ability to do her job properly. Thankfully for their relationship, just as things were reaching breaking point between them, jane had found them a new home. deciding to take some time off for the FBI he turned all his time and attention on refurbishing the cabin rather than trying to keep her away from working serious cases.

"It was no big deal; it looks worse than it is. Cho caught him. gave him a rough tackle back. no business like Cho business, huh!" Lisbon chuckled light heartily, hoping he wasn't about to go into one of his lectures on her safety. Jane stood up from the kitchen table showing in his expression that he wasn't impressed by these recent turn of events.

"It's just a small bruise Jane, I have had a lot worse in the past and survived." Lisbon said hoping that would ease his fears. She felt uneasy when he remained silent she wanted him to say something rather than giving her a cold broody silence. He leaned over her placing the dirty cutlery in the sink before placing a soft kiss to the side of her forehead.

"I've got to go finish packing my bag." He whispered, making his way out of the kitchen leaving her alone and confused by his silence over the matter.

Normally this type of discussion would end up with a long worried lecture from him, with her trying to reassure him she was going to be ok and that he wasn't going to lose her. She put his unusual silence down to him being extremely upset with everything that had happen earlier that day.

"I will only be gone a few days. Just a few days." Jane said solemnly, exiting the bedroom carrying his small brown overnight bag and pulling on his suit jacket.

"I am big girl. I think I can survive." Lisbon quipped straightening the lapel of his suit jacket running her fingers down the buttons of his awful island shirt that he was still prone to wearing.

'Well, you may be able to survive without me but can I survive without you?" Jane replied giving her a small smile, even if his question did feel like there was much more behind it.

Before she could respond he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist pressing his lips down on to hers. Lisbon moaned in pleasure by the surprise kiss. He parted her lips when she gasped for a breath inserting his tongue to deepen the kiss further. They stayed in each other's arms kissing passionately with Jane disregarding his overnight bag beside the front door so that he could run both his large hands over her back cupping her backside with both hands and pulling her flush against him.

They eventually broke the kiss when their need to catch their breaths took over more than their sexual desires. Jane glanced at the clock on the wall behind them wondering if he had time to make love to his wife before the taxi showed but just as he was about to act on that thought the sound of the cab horn sounded notifying them that his ride to the airport had arrived promptly.

"Damn it." Jane muttered bitterly, annoyed at himself for not thinking of that idea a lot sooner, having been too caught up over nearly forgetting Charlottes birthday. Lisbon chuckled knowing exactly why he was grumbling. "You have a flight to catch remember." She giggled seeing his childlike sulky frown appear.

"Anyway, we made love this morning. Twice. Remember?" Lisbon said seductively, wiggling both eyebrows playfully at him. hoping by re-jogging that memory it would bring a smile back to his face.

"Oh trust me Teresa. That is one memory forever stored nicely away in my memory palace. In fact, it was the best wakeup call you have ever given me. Definitely beats the sharp hard kicks you use to give to my poor old leather couch at the CBI, that's for sure." Jane replied seductively back, his eyes dilating at the memory of that very sexy wakeup call and the wonders she could do with just her tongue.

Pulling her body firmly against his again he made sure she felt his growing desire for her. Lisbon groaned in frustration suddenly wishing the taxi hadn't arrived on time. "well, you just remember that wake up Mr Jane and when you get back from California I may give you another one as a coming home present."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Lisbon whispered pecking his lips. She chuckled happy to see a genuine smile cross his gorgeous face again even if it had taken the promise of sex to make it appear. Picking back up his overnight bag and tugging him by the hand she led him out of the front door. "Come on, I will walk you out to cab."

Jane placed his overnight bag in the trunk of the cab. Turning around to face his wife he pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately once more. Lisbon was the first to break away, feeling a little uncomfortable that the creepy cab driver was getting a private showing and watching them a little to keenly from in the vehicle.

"I love you Teresa. Always have. Always will. You know that, don't you?" Jane said keeping his voice quietly low so the nosey cab driver didn't overhear their private parting words of goodbye. He ducked his body down a few inches lower so he was looking her directly in the eye and she could see he meant every single word. Playing gently with the curls on the back of his neck she grinned overwhelmed by happiness at his words, loving how he would openly tell her he loved her now and how she could return the feelings.

"Yes. I know." She blushed still fully effected by him and his words even after nearly year of hearing him say them.

"I have to go. I have been putting off facing my demons ever since I got back from South America but with what happened earlier today I realise it's time. For me. For you. For us.

"I know. I understand." Lisbon replied in between small pecks to his lips. "and I love you too. Always have. Always will." repeating his own words back. Whilst a small part of her wanted to be going to out to California with him, she understood this was something he needed to do alone.

Reluctantly Jane stepped towards the taxi watching as his wife walked backwards up the pathway to the house with the red door. "I will be back. I promise. I love you, Teresa." He called out blowing his new wife a kiss before disappearing inside of the yellow cab before it drove away up the street.

* * *

 _ **One year later**_.

Lisbon exited the black SUV surveying the sea of blue and red flashing lights shining brightly in the early dawn darkness. She shook her head sadly at the incompetence of the Local PD. An hour ago she had been warmly tucked up in bed when she got an early mysterious wakeup call from dispatch advising her to attend an address as her presence was required immediately by Agent Cho. No other details were given, which Lisbon found strange in its self that Cho wasn't calling her himself but the dispatch controller had advised her that the orders given by Agent Cho was that the team needed to take control of the crime scene ASAP, with strict instructions to maintain as much information to FBI personal only. Which, every agent in the land knew was code for 'this is something really big and the FBI want it kept hush hush.'

"Hey Lisbon." said the voice of Agent Andrews, walking across the front lawn of the house address to greet her. Lisbon quickly ducked under the crime scene type, looking around at the gathering nosey neighbours in their dressing gowns trying to get a good look at was happening.

"Hey Andrews. So much for keeping this all quiet, huh?"

"Tell me about. I sometimes wonder how Local PD get out of bed of the mornings without fucking it up." Andrews sighed angrily glancing over at local PD bumbling about by the tape area with the enquiring members of the public.

Agent Sean Andrews had joined Cho's team seven months previous. He had been based in the Boston Federal office for the last five years with their serious crime unit. Originally born and bred in Austin Texas he had transferred back home to help his elderly widowed father who had recently diagnosed with dementia. Andrews was in his mid-forties, with dark hair, blue eyes, over 6'ft, good looking, smart, charming, a little over confidence at times, single, with no dependants and as expected, a big hit with the single females in Austin office.

"Where's Cho? I thought he would be dealing with this? Lisbon asked nodding her head towards the several TV vans now pulling up and setting up by the crime scene tape.

"He had to go in for some important morning meeting with Director Schwaltz apparently. He will be along straight afterwards. I've been told to keep an eye on things until he turns up but it becoming a nightmare to be honest. I have left him a message to get down here pronto.

"Is it...?" Lisbon enquired anxiously, her words trailing off hoping her guess at what grisly crime scene was waiting for them in the house was wrong.

"Looks like it. Everything seems to fit. But until forensics are done in there, we can't be fully sure. But the sicko left his normal calling card.

"We got ID on the victim yet?"

"Yeah, house is rented by a Ms Joanna Webber, twenty-eight-year-old legal secretary, her roommate discovered the body. Cindy Walton. Came home early hours of this morning and Found the body. Victims has been dead for a good few hours' forensics reckon. I've got Wylie running back ground checks into the flat mate. Something seems off about her."

"Off?" Lisbon said curiously knowing that agent Andrews intuition was pretty good with these sort of things. He was no Patrick Jane but he could get a good read on someone. Andrews glanced behind him making sure no one else was listening "can't quite put my finger on it. She is being seen to by paramedics at the mo. She went into shock after discovering the body but she is definitely hiding something, I am sure of it."

"Well if it is this sicko, you can't blame her. No-one Should have to see a friend or love one in that way. Lisbon answered seeing another TV van pulling up. "One of us should go deal with the press before we have a major media circus on our hands."

"Yeah your right, I will go. I told Local PD to clear the street but that's not happening, it's like they are selling flaming tickets." Andrews stepped forward but Lisbon held her hand up upon his chest to block him. They both paused both a little stunned at Lisbon close unfamiliar gesture. Seeing a happy gleam appear in Andrews eyes Lisbon quickly dropped her hand from his firm toned chest embarrassed by her unexpected action.

"No it's fine, I will go. It will give me something to do whilst waiting for the forensics teams to finish. You know how long they can take on these things." Lisbon quickly moved away putting both her hands in her jeans pockets so they wouldn't act in over touchy way again towards the handsome Agent.

"You sure? We could just wait for Cho. Let him handle those vultures?" Andrews asked disappointed she was running away from their tension filled moment.

"It's fine. I had to deal with all this sort of crap all the time back in California." Lisbon said waving a dismissive hand in the air picking up her pace trying to create some distant between them.

'"Ok, if you insist. give me a shout if you need me." As he watched Lisbon moved across the lawn and he called out. "Oh by the way, Franks is having birthday drinks down at Murphy's bar on Friday?" Andrews stated in upbeat tone trying to sound casual. "you know, if you fancy it?"

"Uh, Thanks but I actually have plans this Friday." Lisbon replied turning back to face the agent, smiling when she saw Andrews eyes widening in shock. Ever since Andrews had joined the team seven months ago Lisbon hadn't attended any sort of social occasion within or the outside the bureau. Always turning down the offers or assisting she had too much stuff to do at home or on a case.

He had asked Wylie and Tork if this isolated distant behaviour from their fellow female colleague was normal, but both had skirted around giving a full answer or a reason why. The only person Agent Lisbon seem to be close with was Agent Cho but he knew they once worked together before with Lisbon being his old boss. One night after a few to many beers Tork had let it slip that something big had happened in the last year to make her withdraw but once Tork realised he had accidentally let that tip bit slip he didn't elaborate any further. Not wanting to pry into her private life Andrews hadn't pressed the subject anymore. he knew very little about Agent Lisbon's personal life as she never gave anything away unless forced too and everyone else seemed reluctant or nervous to say anything about the mysterious woman. He did keep up the hope that within time the attractive brunette would one day except his offers to be social and let herself get to know him more personally.

"It's a family members birthday so said we would go out to celebrate." Lisbon said coyly.

"Oh. Of course." Andrews nodded not bothering to hide his attraction towards her. He was surprise to hear her mention family because as far as he was aware all her family was back in Chicago and she had none locally. Their tension filled moment a few minutes before had made his professional agent mask slip. Lisbon cheeks flush a light shade of pink noticing the way he was looking at her. She knew Andrews was disappointed she was rejecting another of his invitations but it did feel good to know she was desired by one of the most popular men at the bureau.

Whilst Andrews had always remained professional and respectful towards her, in the last few weeks he had let his professional persona drop some more, letting her know he was attracted to her. So far he had only invited her out in large social gathering based around work events but Lisbon wondered if he was in fact plucking up the courage up to ask her out on a date directly. But she knew he wasn't shy in coming forward when it came to dating the opposite sex, as a few of the females at the bureau could already confirm. If she was honest she wondered more what her answer would be if he actually did ask her out.

"well, if you change your mind or if you fancy a drink after your meal, you knew where to find us."

"Thanks Sean. I'll see." Lisbon smiled sweetly suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her appearance as he continued eyeing her in a seductive way. She quickly turned around exhaling a large breath as she walked towards the crowd gathering crime scene tape. it was becoming harder and harder to deny to herself that she was attractive to her new colleague even if she wasn't interested in getting involved in the opposite sex. Ever again.

If she had met Agent Andrews a few years ago she would have definitely have taken him up on his offers to be social and possibly much much more, but unfortunately she wasn't that same woman but maybe one day in the future she would get back to that old Lisbon and when she did, maybe, just maybe Agent Andrews would get his wish.

* * *

Cho exited the elevator annoyed that he had been summoned to the head office unable to make his way straight to the latest crime scene. The Austin serial killer, as the media had originally named this psychopath, had struck again by the reports from dispatch.

Over the last four months, three women, all aged between twenty - thirty-five years of age had been tortured and murdered in their own homes. all victims had been discovered tortured, tied naked to the bed and strangled to death. The killer had then proceeded to cut off the little finger on their left hands as some sort of sick keepsake.

Forensics reports showed that there were never any signs of forced entry or any visible evidence of a break in. Whoever this psycho was he was being invited into the home by the victims. Forensics reports also confirmed that the victims had all participated in consensual sexual intercourse before their brutal murders. Unfortunately, any leads on this front was thin on the ground as family and friends confirmed all the victims were currently single and unaware of any potential love interests in their lives.

So how the killer was selecting his victims was a whole other mystery to unravel? and with this psychopath leaving no traces of DNA, no witnesses or viable leads the Local PD had quickly passed the case over to the FEDS with the file having fallen on to the Cho desk two weeks ago.

Cho had hoped the team would have discovered some new leads to work with but they are had barely scraped the surface of the previous three cases and now he was facing a fresh new victim. he approached Director Schwaltz's office door a little after seven thirty am. He pausing for a minute on the empty floor and compose himself before he faced the top woman in charge. He was unsure why he was being called up to see her but he had a gut feeling it was connected to this new serial killer case.

"Come in." Director Schwaltz muffled voice called out after Cho wrapped his knuckles against the oak door.

Cho pushed open the heavy set door entering into the very large modern furnished office. Sat at her large desk on the opposite end of the room was Director Schwaltz chatting with her second in command, Chief Agent Sanders. Unfortunately, it wasn't either of his superiors that caught Cho's immediate attention, it was the very familiar blonde haired consultant sat casually on black leather sofa in the corner of the room that caught his eye.

Patrick Jane was sat with his leg crossed over the other, sipping on a cup of tea from his old blue cup and saucer without a care in the world. He was dressed in his old CBI style three-piece suit, minus the awful island shirts thankfully, but he was still wearing those old brown shoes he loved so much. Cho noticed his skin was golden tanned once again and he seemed a little broader in the shoulders than when he had first arrived back to the states in a crumpled old suit and no socks.

Cho gave an annoyed glare over towards Patrick Jane as Director Schwaltz instructed him to take a seat opposite her.

"Thank you for coming in so early Supervising Agent Cho. You know Chief Agent Sanders don't you?" Cho nodded his head greeting the tall older man with grey hair sat in the chair next to him.

"And you know Mr Jane, of course."

Jane grinned a big toothy smile at his old colleague and friend, raising his tea cup in the air. He was fully aware that Cho was purposely remaining focused on the woman in front of him and not giving him a second look.

"Why am I here, ma'am?" Cho interrupted, keen to get whatever trouble his ex-pain in the ass consultant was about to bring him and his team.

"Mr Jane is here to work the Austin serial killer case and from reading these reports..." Director Schwaltz spat, letting the large Manila color folders slide across the desk towards Cho. "...He is needed."

"Ma'am. with respect we have only just got given over the case and I have my team-

"Save the excuses Agent Cho. Whilst I am sure you and your team are doing an admiral job, we need this psychopath found, and pronto. The senator is already breathing down my neck about the back lash from this sicko and we can't have another serial killer making us and other law force look incompetent. Once in California was quite enough."

"And Mr Jane is the answer. is he? Cho stated coldly knowing questioning the head of the Texan FBI could be dangerous career move. Whilst Jane was a master at catching the bad guys, it had seemed to have slip the Director's mind it had actually taken him ten years to track the last psychopathic serial killer and he had had help along to the way with the CBI team and Lisbon backing him.

"Actually, I never said I was the answer Kimball but I have offered my services, now that I am back." Jane said casually, interrupting their little debate and calmly taking another sip of his tea.

"Why?" Cho asked sharply. he spun his head acknowledging the cocky mouth consultant for the first time since entering the room.

Why? Jane chuckled repeating his question, a little surprised by Cho's angry hostility.

'Yes, why?"

"Well, I think it's obvious why Cho. People's lives are at risk and I want to help with that. Besides it's my job as a FBI consultant and being part of the team."

"You left. You are not a part of my team anymore." Cho folded his arms across his chest making his point clear. If Patrick jane thought, he could just rock up after a year of disappearing and jump back in like nothing had happen then he could think again.

"Actually Agent Cho, he is." Director Schwaltz remarked firmly making Cho hard stance drop slightly in confusion.

"But ma'am..."

"No buts Agent Cho. Patrick Jane is part of your team as FBI consultant and that is final. We have four women who have brutally tortured and murdered in their own homes and I don't want a fifth! Mr Jane has the best damn closed case record in Texas and he will be working on this case and any other cases I decide to put him on. Do I make myself clear?" Director Schwaltz leaned back in her large leather chair drumming her manicured nails against the arm making it clear to Cho she wasn't a woman to messed with.

Cho cut his eye at his consultant with disdain before refocusing his attention back on the director. "Yes ma'am." Cho reluctantly agreed. There was no point arguing over this matter, what the director ordered went without question.

"Oh and this arrangement stands until I say otherwise. Replay this message to any other members of your team agent Cho. if any of them have a problem with Mr Jane being back on the team then they know where the door is."

Cho nodded at the hard faced woman opposite, knowing exactly who she was referring to and knowing full well this new development to the team would make the shit hit the fan for certain members.

"Well I don't believe it will come to that, will it? Kimball?" Jane said cheerfully and full of his own self-confident, moving towards the Director's side table to steal a grape from the fruit bowl.

"Good." Director stated satisfied, her voice now taking a friendlier tone. "now that's all sorted, you both need to head down to latest crime scene. Agent Sanders has informed me that Fox News are already airing regular new reels on this" Chief Agent sanders slid a tablet towards Cho so he could see what he was referring too. Cho sighed annoyed that his orders for this to be kept under wraps hadn't been obeyed.

"I want this bastard caught… and quick." Director Schwaltz ordered firmly. "That will be all gentleman."

All three stood making their way out the directors large office. Agent Sanders stated his goodbyes once out of the room leaving Cho and Jane to make their way to the main elevators.

"Much Nicer decor up here." Jane stated casually as he scanned the sixth floor waiting area. The sixth floor was mainly filled with private offices with a few personal assistants and secretary desks which sat empty at such early time in the morning. It was the place where all the higher powers to be of the Texan FBI were based. Cho remained silent as he stood waiting for the elevator choosing to ignore the man beside him.

"So, How's life at the top with the big dogs these days? You're Looking good. Found that one lucky lady yet?" Jane asked playfully studying the shorter man beside him.

"Cut the crap. Whatever it is you are really you up too just make sure you don't take me or my team down with you."

"Excuse me?" Jane replied laughing in astonishment at Cho's assumption about his sudden return.

"You heard me."

"Why would you think I am up to something? I have returned home that's all. I needed some time away but now I am ready to return to my job, my old life, my...

"…Wife?" Cho interrupted.

Jane's cocky arrogance faltered by Cho's directness. "That's not any of your business. That's between me and my wife." Jane replied sternly dropping the happy go lucky act finally with his colleague.

"Does she know? That you have returned?" Cho said folding his arms across him and eyeing the blonde. Jane shoved a hand in his jacket pocket shifting nervously back on his heels. "Well, I..."

"That's a no then." Cho shook his head in disbelief focusing back on the doors in front of him. Seconds later the elevator opened and Cho stormed into the metal box. Jane slowly followed like a scolded schoolboy knowing that building bridges with his old friend and boss was going to be a lot tougher than he had prepared for. He had guessed that Cho would be somewhat loyal to Lisbon and he was right. Cho stabbed his finger at the basement floor button not bothering to hide his annoyance.

As the elevator started to descend Cho spoke again his eyes focus ahead and keeping his voice low. "If you ever hurt her like that again, I will make sure you regret the day you returned to Texas." Jane frowned worriedly by Cho's cold threat. Before he could respond with a reply Cho continued. "Just do your job and keep out of trouble. Do I make myself clear?"

Jane silently nodded, exhaling out loud. He felt it best to remain quiet for now and not to push his luck with the supervising Agent, especially being contained in a small box with no mains of escape. To say he was a little stunned by the hard stance Cho was taking was an understatement but deep down he should have expected it. Whilst he knew his return was going to receive some anger and backlash he hadn't really considered Cho's reaction to it all.

"The crime scene is across town; the rest of the team are ready there." Cho remarked as they exited the elevator to the basement floor car park returning himself back into his professional Agent persona. "We should get there fairly quickly if we don't hit rush hour traffic."

Cho pulled open then driver's door of the SUV climbing in. Jane sighed in relief that at least he wasn't about to get his lights punched out by the stoic Agent, well at least not today anyways. He followed Cho's actions climbing into the passenger side of the SUV. "Here take a look at the case files." Cho passed Jane a tablet to look at before starting up the vehicle and pulling out of the FBI basement car park.

They continued their car journey in silence as Jane browsed through the other victims case files. After several minutes' Jane mumbled something under his breath.

"What? Have you found something?" Cho asked hopefully, secretly impressed by the man's detecting skills to have seen something maybe they have missed within only ten minutes of reading the reports.

"Huh? Oh. No. unfortunately I will need more time to properly read the reports but I do know my belly is rumbling. Let's stop off and get some breakfast, there is a great diner on this side of town. They do the best eggs I have ever had the pleasure in eating." Jane said grinning at the memory of the delicious breakfasts he had from the diner.

Cho took his eyes of the road ahead narrowing them in anger and annoyance at the consultant sat beside him. It was quite clear Patrick Jane hadn't change much in the twelve months he had been AWOL and Cho knew then this was going to be a very very long day.


	2. Chapter 2 Reunited

**Hiii. Thank you so much for all the follows and faves on this new story of mine. I wasn't expecting that at all.**

 **Also thank you for the reviews, always good to hear from you and what you think. To the people who didn't like the start of my story that's okay that is your choice but as it says on the tin this is romantic angst drama story and its a given that it will involved our beloved Duo. So... with the story warnings over, here is the next chapter for you all.**

 **I am working on the next chapter as we speak and hopefully be posting that up soon as I may not be able to work on this for a few weeks**. **Thanks for reading. Enjoy.**

 **Disclamier: I don't own the Mentalist :(**

* * *

Cho parked the SUV up a little way before the police crime tape exhaling a large breath as he killed the ignition. As Jane opened the passenger side door he held his arm out stopping the upbeat consultant from exiting the vehicle. "I don't think this is a good idea," Cho remarked. "I think you should go back to the office."

"And why would I do that?" Jane asked curiously smirking at the man. "The crime scene is here. Not at the office."

"You seriously asking me why?"

"Uh. Yes."

"Because of Lisbon," Cho replied, confused by Jane's relaxed attitude about this whole matter. Jane narrowed his eyes studying the man's face. "Why don't you let me worry about Lisbon."

With that Jane exited the vehicle making his way around to the front of the car waiting for the Agent to join him. Both he and Cho walked under the tape to see a swarm of police officers stood idly on the front lawn of the house whilst local residents lingered nearby watching waiting for events to unfold.

Jane had been waiting nine months, four days and seventeen hours for this day to come, he wasn't about to wait a day longer to see his wife. It was then Jane's face lit up and a small grin appeared as he spotted her addressing the media and TV cameras. He quickly made his way across the lawn ignoring Cho's protests and disregarding the looks and whispers from his FBI colleagues at his unexpected reappearance.

Jane stood back observing his wife but his big cheesy smile slipped a little changing to a worried frown when he noticed how different she looked. Whilst her body still looked fantastic, her un-styled hair, drab looking clothes and lack of subtle make up she normally wore were clearly noticeable. This wasn't the Lisbon he knew and loved. She looked worn and tired and her clothes were hanging off her, not the same woman he married and loved.

"…We are unable to release that information I am afraid," Lisbon stated aiming her question to an eager reporter who was shoving a tape recorder in her face. "The FBI will be issuing a formal statement when we know more. Thank you."

Lisbon walked away turning herself back to the crime scene behind her. She took a few steps across the immaculate lawn but stopped in her tracks when she saw Patrick Jane's gorgeous smiling face in front of her.

"Hey you," Jane greeted softly, his eyes filling with tears as he slowly approached her. He raked his eyes quickly once over her body, his grin widening as he savoured the sight of his wife.

Lisbon froze, ignoring the shouts and yells from the bustling reporters behind her. Her head was spinning as she looked upon her AWOL husband, not sure if she wanted to cry with relief he was there or scream in anger that he had the nerve to just turn up unexpectedly like this.

Before her brain could get itself into gear and going into some sort of shock, Jane wrapped his arms around her small frame squeezing himself against her. He knew she wouldn't like him being so unprofessional in front of her colleagues but he didn't care, he needed to have her in his arms. He had missed her so much he couldn't help himself any longer.

It took a few seconds for Lisbon to realise what was happening as the familiar scent of the man she loved filled her senses completely. She closed her eyes briefly remembering how being in his arms was all she ever wanted in her life. She had noticed instantly how well Jane looked, really well in fact. His golden tan, his hair looked softer, curlier and blonder, having been bleached naturally by the sun. He was also wearing her favorite three-piece outfit that she had always loved seeing him dressed in.

Suddenly her brain caught up and she forcefully pushed him away leaving Jane stunned and reaching out for her. She was angry at herself that she had allowed Patrick Jane to take over her senses so easily within seconds of returning back in her life. She saw the look of hurt and confusion in his eyes as he began moving.

"DON'T!" she shouted as he moved a step closer to her. She quickly regained control when half the media and law enforcement noticed her rise in voice and were now watching them in full view on the lawn. She stepped around Jane storming towards the parked FBI SUVs further up the road, ignoring Cho stood nearby calling her name.

"Teresa wait…" Jane called jogging behind after his wife.

"Don't come near me," Lisbon spat as he tried to keep up.

Agent Andrews moved across the driveway disregarding the police officer who he had been in the middle of reprimanding. "Teresa, you okay?"

Jane glanced quickly at the Agent using his wife's Christian name but refocused on his attention back to Lisbon trying to leave the scene. Managing to catch up with her finally, Jane gently pulled her upper arm stopping her from crossing under the tape. "Teresa please, I know you're upset that I…"

The force of Lisbon's fist cracking hard against his nose seemed to echo as Jane landed on the ground beside her. Suddenly there was a swarm of flashing lights, shouts and a few gasps from Agents and local PD who were standing nearby witnessing the dispute. Lisbon could feel her blood was pumping so fast she felt like her heart was going to explode with pure anger as her husband lay on the floor holding his face and hissing in agony.

She let out a small gasp bringing a shaky hand up to her mouth also shocked by her own violent outburst. Looking up she saw Agent Andrews stood a few feet behind them, stunned as to what he had just witnessed. Then all of a sudden there were TV cameras and reporters shouting her name and snapping pictures of the infamous Patrick Jane sitting on the grass bleeding.

Realising she had made a big mistake Lisbon quickly ran under the crime scene tape ignoring the voices of Cho and Andrews calling after her. She climbed into the first SUV she found open and took off down the road at high speed.

"Damn it," Cho muttered as the SUV whizzed past him at high speed and the flashing cameras turned their attention back to a bleeding Jane still on the ground. "Get up." Cho helped his wayward consultant up to his feet.

"Arghh, careful," Jane grumbled as Cho roughly pulled him upright. "I think she broke my nose," Jane hissed in agony touching his bruised bleeding face.

"Should I go after her?" Andrews asked ignoring the bleeding moaning man to his side and directing his question at his superior.

"No. You won't," Jane ordered sharply at the agent's suggestion before Cho could respond.

"Excuse me? And who the hell are you?" Andrews asked defensively placing his hands on his hips squaring up to the unknown man. He had no idea who this guy was but he had clearly upset Lisbon and now he was trying to bark orders at him. In the last eight months since joining the Austin branch he had never seen Lisbon so angry and within seconds of arriving on scene this guy had achieved just that.

Jane scoffed laughing at Andrews' threatening behaviour whilst cupping his face in agony and trying to stop the bleeding with a tissue. "I will tell you exactly who I am-" Jane continued.

"Ok enough the pair of you. Andrews back off. Get back to dealing with local PD and getting some control of this crime scene," Cho ordered firmly pulling Jane away and back up to the house.

"Who's the pretty lapdog sniffing around my wife?" Jane enquired angrily shrugging his arm out of Cho's firm grip once they reached the steps of the house. It was then that Wylie appeared on the veranda having been told there was something big happening outside.

"Hey boss. Forensics are nearly done inside. What I have missed? Smith just said Lisbon punched a reporter? Please tell it was that guy from Channel Seven, he is the biggest- Jane! You're… you're back." Wylie swallowed nervously as he saw the blond consultant standing in front of him as large as life.

"Take Jane to the hospital. He may have a broken nose by the looks of it. Then get him back to the office," Cho barked as he noticed the media crowd seem to suddenly double itself in size down by the crime scene tape.

"Me? But… but…" Wylie stuttered nervously as he watched Jane fiddling with his sore nose and bloody tissue.

"Yes. You Wylie! That's an order. Now," Cho sighed, annoyed that all his team seemed to be causing him grief today.

"I need to go deal with this crap storm." Cho nodded his head towards the media. "And you…" Cho aimed his statement directly at Jane. "Stay away from Lisbon. She needs time to calm down. Do I make myself clear?"

Jane eyed his old friend with contempt but nodded his head in agreement knowing an angry Cho was just as dangerous as an angry Lisbon. As Cho stalked away Jane spotted Andrews anxiously pacing the sidewalk on his cell phone obviously trying to contact Lisbon. By the disappointment plastered on his face the man wasn't getting any answer which made Jane feel a little better despite the pain pulsating through his face.

Jane turned around to Wylie and spotted the fear in the young agent's face like Jane had just grown a second head. "Relax Wylie, it's only me," Jane stated. "I am sure this blood isn't very pretty but no need to look so scared." Jane gave the young man a small pat on the shoulder and headed inside the house instead.

"But Cho said I needed to take you to the hospital?" Wylie quickly ran after the bleeding consultant as he headed up the stairs to the gruesome crime.

"I need to see the crime scene first young Wylie, then you can take me to the ER. My nose will still be broken then," Jane said irritably ignoring the shocked looks from Tork and a few others who were examining the crime scene by his appearance.

Jane stepped into the main bedroom suddenly forgetting his own anger and pain when he saw the poor woman lying naked, bloodied and murdered. Her arms and legs were tied by some old rope to the bed frame and she had been gagged with a dark piece of fabric. Blood covered the victim's upper body as her throat had been slit and the little finger on her left hand had been cut cleanly off. Looking at the cut the killer had used a very sharp object or instrument that was able to slice right through to the bone.

Jane slowly moved around the bed not saying everything and focusing fully on the poor victim on the bed. Not seeing anything out of place in the bedroom he crouched down to look under the bed, carefully pushing aside a shoe box. His eyes darted to something silver and shiny lying hidden behind the bed post.

Placed just out of view was a small piece of a fallen condom wrapper. It was speculation that the serial killer's victims consented to sex before the psycho then went on to tie them up then tortured and killed them. Unfortunately, there was never ever any DNA for forensics to find at the crime scenes. The killer was smart and clever, managing to get rid of all traces of DNA on the body and the rooms, covering his tracks fully up until now.

Jane grabbed a hanker chief from his jacket and picked up the corner of the used condom wrapper. "Someone might want to bag this up? Might even be a finger print on it, if you're lucky," Jane said holding up the evidence in the air dismissively as he leaned over and looked at the end of the victim's hair noticing it was slightly curled and damp.

Tork took the material from Jane's hand quickly bagging it. "Good find," Tork praised the consultant at having spotted the small piece of material hidden that none of them had originally seen.

"It's not my first time at a crime scene," Jane replied sarcastically, not in the mood to be friendly after the disastrous reunion with Lisbon earlier. To say he was upset was an understatement. He had known she was still upset about things but he thought they were finally at an understanding and were going to work things out so her violent reaction to his return had been a shock if he was honest. He hadn't expected that reaction at all.

Jane gave a quick look around the bedroom before entering the small ensuite bathroom adjoining the room. Observing the victim's new Victoria Secret underwear that had been disregarded on the bathroom floor Jane gave a small hum as he solved the mystery of how no sexual DNA was ever found at the crime scenes. He moved out the bathroom but kept this new revelation to himself for now.

"You can take me to the hospital now. I need pain killers for my face," Jane said coldly exiting the bedroom and heading back down the stairs whilst an anxious Wylie looked on. "You coming?" Jane asked when he noticed Wylie was in a world of his own and not following.

"Right! Hospital. Coming," the young agent replied quickly heading after the consultant.

Wylie's head was a whirl of different thoughts. What was Jane doing back? He wasn't due to come back for another four months. Jane was definitely going to find out what he had done. And what would happen when he did? And what about Lisbon? How would she be when he found out? Wylie followed Patrick Jane out the house knowing that serious crap was about to hit the fan and unfortunately he had helped played a big part in it.

* * *

Lisbon pulled the SUV up at the side of the road resting her head against the cool steering wheel as her breathing began to slow finally. She couldn't stop the tears running down her cheeks as once again her whole world had fallen down around her. Just when things had started to settle with her adjusting to life without the man, again, Patrick Jane reappeared out of the blue turning her life on its head once more.

She hadn't seen or heard from him in over a year yet he thought it was acceptable to show up and carry on like nothing had happened. She knew Patrick Jane could be brazen when he chose to be but this was taking things too far. Deciding she needed to get away from Texas, to create some space to clear her head and give herself time to decide what to do about her husband Lisbon put the car into drive heading for the highway and connected the car's Bluetooth to her cell. She dialled her brother Tommy. After a few rings he answered.

"Hey T. What's up? Annie is so looking forward to your visit next month."

"Hi Tommy, actually I was wondering if I could come visit sooner than that."

"Of course. But I am flying out on a job on Thursday but Annie will be here. Everything okay?"

"Can I come today?"

"Sure you can. Reece. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. No. I will explain more when I get there. Thanks Tommy, I will ring when I am in New Mexico."

"Ok sis. Hey, you drive safe, okay. See you soon," Tommy replied hearing the distress in his sister's voice and knowing full well this unplanned visit was most likely connected to her ass of a missing husband.

Lisbon disconnected the call and inhaled a deep breath as she scrolled through the contacts list to find Cho's name. She knew she would have to make a call to her boss but she wasn't looking forward to it. She had just publicly assaulted her husband at a high profile crime scene in front of dozens of TV crews and reporters and then ran away, she was hardly going to win team employee of the month. Cho's name appeared on the small screen and her thumb hovered over the call button.

Not ready to face the music she threw her cell over to the passenger seat making the decision to call her friend and superior when she arrived at her brother's. That way it gave her plenty of time to calm down and to deal with the consequences of her actions. She noticed she had three missed calls from Agents Andrews, two from Cho, but none from her so-called husband. Lisbon let out a sigh, annoyed she was actually waiting for his call, even now, after everything he had done.

* * *

Al took a sip of his freshly opened beer and turned the channel of the TV. He had his potato chips, his six pack of beer and an evening full of sports to watch. It was a perfect Saturday night. The only thing that was missing was Teresa bringing him top ups to his snacks but hey she couldn't be at his beckoned call all the time and she had a job to do. Duty calls as they say.

Al sat back in the recliner chair lifting the foot lever and getting comfy when suddenly the house phone began to ring. He groaned in frustration when he realised he had left the handset out on to the kitchen worktop.

"Damn it," he hissed pushing the recliner back to the upright position and grabbing his crutches to give him support to walk on his broken leg. He managed to stand and hobble into the kitchen before the house answer phone picked up the call.

"Hello," he said out of breath, leaning up against the kitchen counter for more support.

"Hey Al, it's me, Teresa."

"Hey sweetheart. I hobbled like lightning to answer this call, I will have you know," Al answered puffed out of breath.

Lisbon gave a small chuckle at the man's whinging. "Well, I do keep telling you to get a cell phone, it is the twenty first century."

"Meh, I can't work them and they kill brain cells I keep telling you. Besides human race survive years without those noisy things. So, tell me how's crime fighting going today?"

"Not good Al, listen, I won't be back home today, in fact I will be gone for a little while. I am staying with my brother for a few weeks. Will you be okay?"

"Of course. Are you okay sweetheart?" Al enquired suddenly very aware by how upset this sweet woman actually was despite her cheery tone.

Lisbon sighed knowing there was no point in trying to hide it. "No Al. No, no I'm not okay."

"Something happen, Pepper?" Al dropped his comedy act and took a more concerned tone with her.

"Yeah you could say that. Patrick. Patrick Jane happened."

"Patrick?" He heard his own voice raised slightly in panic as she mentioned the man's name.

"Yeah, he came back."

"When? How long has he been back?" Al probed straightening himself up looking around the empty kitchen in concern.

"I don't know, he just showed up at the crime scene this morning. Full of brass. Like nothing had happened."

"Jesus…" Al mumbled under his breath rubbing his hand down over his face and trying not to let the little brunette know he was affected by this news. "Did he say anything?"

"No, but I didn't really give him a chance. Look I'm at my brother's place in New Mexico at the moment. You have my cell number. Are you going to be okay?"

"Who me?" Al chuckled nervously in reply. "Hey, don't you worry about me darling, you don't get to my old age without knowing how to look after yourself. You just take care of yourself for now, you hear me."

"Ok thanks, I will. I will call you in a few days see how you are coping. Oh and no climbing up in the attic, do you hear me! We don't want you breaking the other leg whilst I am gone."

"Yes ma'am," Al replied rolling his eyes. "I will be fine. Speak to you later sweetheart. Oh Teresa… Thank you. For everything," Al's voice broke as he quickly ended the call. Slowly placing the phone down the colour drained completely from his face.

Patrick Jane was back in Texas and it wouldn't take long before the boy genius started to piece things together and things went south from here.

Al quickly hobbled into the spare bedroom reaching up with his crutch and knocking his large duffle bag off from the top of wardrobe. He began shoving his clothes into the bag and emptying his drawers. After twenty minutes he had managed to pack all of his essentials leaving behind the bits he could replace and grabbed the keys to Lisbon's car that was parked out on the driveway.

He had known this day would eventually come but it was happening a lot sooner than he had expected and he hadn't really prepared. Al gave a long sad look around at the little home he had shared with Teresa for past eight months. The first place that had felt like home to him in many a year. Wiping a sentimental tear from his weary eye Al left a white envelope propped up on the side table address to Pepper and exited out of the red front door.

He pulled the car out of the drive despite the broken leg and gave a quick glance back to the house. He needed to leave before Patrick Jane turned up at the door.

He needed to get out of town and out of Texas.

And fast.

The minute his son, Patrick Jane, figured out what had actually happened Alexander Jane was a dead man.


	3. Chapter 3 Confessions

**Thank you for all the reviews and all the new followers to this story. There was lots of questions to be answered I know but I will admit it was fun teasing you all for a while ;) and seeing all the conclusions you were thinking. Here's is the next chapter clearing some of those mysteries up. Thank you all for the kind support and for reading my story it means so much.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist I wish I did!**

* * *

Jane sat upon the hospital bed swiping angrily at his cell whilst Wylie looked nervously on from the plastic chair beside the bed. They were currently waiting for the doctor to do a final examination on Jane before he could be officially released. Thankfully Jane's nose wasn't broken but there was a small highline fracture on its ridge but they needed the swelling to go down first to see if he required surgery.

"Come on, pick up," Jane mumbled holding the phone to his ear.

"No luck?" Wylie enquired knowing full well the number Jane was contacting would not be answered by Lisbon.

"No! Can you trace her phone? Tell me where she is?"

"Uh, well, I would need my laptop to that," Wylie replied wide eyed in fear, hoping Jane would buy his poor excuse. Jane raised an eyebrow at the younger guy spotting his laptop bag was sitting beside his chair.

"You mean that laptop by your foot?"

"Huh?" Wylie glanced down realising he had brought his laptop with him and his attempts to put Jane off had failed. "Oh yeah, I forgot I had it with me. Silly me."

"You always have your laptop with you, Wylie," Jane stated becoming curious by the younger man's odd behaviour around him. He watched as the young tech fumbled nervously trying to remove his laptop from its bag.

"I don't get why she reacted that way. I just don't get it," Jane mumbled to himself leaning back against the pillow gently pinching the bridge of his sore swollen nose. "Then again I've learned over the years you can never second guess that woman." Jane glanced sideways an saw a few beads of sweat on Wylie's brow. "Wylie, are you sure you're okay?"

"Who me? Course. Why wouldn't I be?" Wylie stammered, his breath catching a little in his throat as he typed frantically on the computer. He paused, pouring himself out a glass of water from the jug from Jane's bedside table in an attempt to steady his nerves. All he had to do was act normally and drop Jane back off at the office. Then he could figure out his next plan of action…. or pack his bags and move to Africa. Wylie went back to tapping on the laptop ignoring the intensive gaze Jane was giving him.

"Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?"

"That cell number. That's not Lisbon's number," Jane insisted trying to get a better look at the laptop screen Wylie was trying to pull away from his line of sight. Wylie felt his breath quickening as he realised he had messed up and that the truth was already coming back to bite him in the ass. Luckily just then the doctor entered through the curtain around Jane's ER hospital bed distracting the mentalist's attention for a few seconds. Quickly grabbing up his stuff Wylie fleed from the small cubicle. He ran all the way out of the ER unit and down the hallway to the hospital exit without stopping or looking back.

Jane was a detective genius and he hadn't even been back twenty four hours and he was already discovering the truth without even realising it. Wylie needed to go home and stay low. If he could just avoid Jane then there was no way he could find out his part in all this. Could he?

The taxi cab pulled up by the tranquil lakeside. Jane exited the vehicle taking a few moments to look up at his new refurbished home. "Wait here." He informed the cab driver. With Wylie having run off on him it meant he had had to get cab back to the offices but whilst on his way he had instructed the cab driver to take a detour to try and find his wife now some time had past. Whilst it was true what Cho had said and she did need time to calm down he felt he'd given her time and now deserved some answers.

Jane stepped up to the front door noticing the veranda was covered in scattered debris and leaves and that the windows didn't look very clean from the inside, or on the out. Lisbon had really let the cabin get messy whilst he was away and he was a little hurt that his pride and joy was suffering as a result of their marriage issues. Pulling his front door keys out his pocket he inserted the key into the lock.

"What the…?" Jane stood in the doorway of his home, his eyes widening as every second past as he looked around at the empty home in front of him. His mind immediately began racing trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle together. Before he had a chance to put his brilliant detective mind to work his cell rang began vibrating from inside his jacket pocket.

"Hello?" Jane answered not really focusing his attention on the caller on the other end.

"Hey Paddy boy! Not interrupting your special homecoming with the little wifey, am I?" The sound of the familiar voice of Pete Baroski floated down the phone at him.

"Hey Pete, no, chance would be a fine thing," Jane grumbled moving around the dark empty room his eyes darting all over taking in his surroundings. "No, in fact my wife has fractured my nose and done a disappearing act on me."

"Wow! What did you do? You have only been back a day?"

"I have no idea," Jane informed the man as he entered to the hallway up to the bedrooms and the newly fitted kitchen. "Everything ok, Pete?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I was just ringing to say…well, you know… thank you. For all you did these past few months. Without you… well, you saved us Paddy and won't ever forget that."

"Hey, there's no need to thank me, Pete. You're my family," Jane said, his voice taking on a sentimental tone very touched by the older man's gratitude. "Listen Pete can I call you back? Something strange is going on here and I really need to find out what."

"Sure, give me a call when you can. We are still up in Oklahoma for a few weeks so we are only a few hours' drive away if you need anything."

"Thanks Pete." Jane ended the call and his cell instantly started vibrating again in his hand. He glanced down seeing Cho's name appearing on the screen.

"Cho," he answered sharply as he touched his sore nose when a sharp pain shot up his bridge. The Doctor had given him some pain killers but they had not yet taken full effect so he was still experiencing pain.

"Where are you?"

Jane rolled his eyes at Cho's question. "Trying to find my wife," Jane replied bluntly. Moving into the master bedroom of the cabin he was greeted with an empty room but with a new kingsize bed sat placed in the middle with the new plastic still wrapped tightly around it.

"Well don't bother," Cho added. "She is in New Mexico. We need you back at the office to work this case."

"She's off to her brother's. Should have guessed. Did you speak to her? Is she ok?"

"What do you think?" Cho snipped, unable to hide his frustrations with the man.

"I don't know what to think to be quite honest, Kimball," Jane said using the man's first name and becoming increasingly frustrated by everyone's weird behaviour towards him since his arrival back. He had known that people would be offish with him with regards to his long absence but this was taking it to extremes in his book.

"Look, can you meet me? Something weird is going on and I need your help finding out what."

He heard Cho deliver a sigh down the receiver. The Supervising Agent part of him wanted to say no and keep well and truly out of their marriage issues but the old friend part of him wanted to help the people he cared about. When Cho didn't say no Jane took his silence as a confirmed yes. "Thanks Cho. I will meet you at Murphy's place in about an hour."

Jane ended the called placing the phone back in his pocket. He carried walking on through the cabin checking out the kitchen spotting the thick layer of dust lying settled on the new granite work tops, rubbing his chin in confusion. He had been under the impression Lisbon was living in their new home but by the looks of it she wasn't and never had been. And if she wasn't living there, then where had she been living? And where were all the letters and gifts that he had written and sent to this home address gone to?

* * *

Cho entered the darkly lit bar and stood searching the room. It was still early in the afternoon and well before the evening patrons descended the place so there weren't many people around. Cho eyes darted to one of the booths at the back spotting Jane calmly waiting and sipping on a large whiskey. He made his way through the quiet bar before sitting himself down opposite the consultant.

"Bit early for that, isn't it? Cho asked, nodding his head towards the alcohol in Jane's hands.

"Had a rough day," Jane replied rolling his eyes at the stoic agent.

"Well, I'm here. What's going on?"

"That's what I was hoping you'd tell me. When did Lisbon move out of our cabin?"

Cho narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable. You're the one who disappeared for a year? Yet you're the one wanting answers. Why don't you start?"

"It wasn't like that," Jane said, his voice becoming sincere and generally shocked by Cho's statement.

"Really? Because I remember draining a lake out in California thinking your body was lying at the bottom of it whilst I watch your wife fall apart. Your phone and wallet were found a week after you arrived in California ditched by the roadside. Three months we searched for your body. You went totally off the grid, no phone signal, no financial records, no trace, nothing." Cho seethed towards the consultant unable to hide his anger at him any longer. "Then bang, out of nowhere, we trace you're back with your old carney circuit. Where the hell were you for those first three months?"

Jane lowered his head knowing his colleague was speaking the truth when he said they had no idea where he had been. Seeing the anger in Cho's eyes Jane inhaled a deep breath ready to be totally honest with his old colleague and friend.

"I…I…was in a psychiatric hospital just outside of Malibu."

* * *

"Here Aunt Reece. Eat this."

"I'm not hungry but thanks sweetie."

Annie placed the bowl of pasta down on the coffee table sighing in disappointment at her aunt's answer. She lazily flopped down on to the couch watching as her aunt staring sadly out of the window at the back yard.

"Wow!" Annie remarked sarcastically picking up a copy of Vogue and loosely flicking through the pages. Aware that her niece had made a disapproving sound Lisbon turned from looking out the window. "What?" Lisbon asked confused by her niece's comment.

"You!" Annie spat sitting up right and rolling her eyes at her aunt.

"What about me?"

"Look at you, Aunt Reece. You're a mess. The aunt Reece that I grew up with wouldn't be hiding out and letting herself go like this all because she was heartbroken over a man."

"You don't understand, Annie. Besides I am not hiding I…I just need some space before I deal with it. With him."

"Oh please! You are totally hiding. He's been gone nearly a year, how much more time and space do you need from the guy?"

"It's not that simple Annabeth. And I haven't let myself go." Lisbon frowned looking down at herself noticing that maybe her jeans did look a bit worn and out of shape.

"Yes you have. When was the last time you got a haircut, huh? Or bought yourself some new clothes. You have lost weight and even gained a few more wrinkles. And you are sleeping… a lot."

Lisbon swung her legs down off the seat so to face her niece. "What's wrong with my clothes!"

"Uh, what's right with them?"

"I am in law enforcement, Annie. I can't be wearing designer ripped jeans." Lisbon glanced down at her niece's own outfit for example. "Or low cut bodycon dresses," she huffed defensively. Seeing her young niece was reading a Vogue magazine and suddenly ver aware of how much more feminine her tomboy niece was now looking these days Lisbon decided to turn the tables on the young girl. "Anyway, when did you start reading Vogue and become the next Vivienne Westwood?"

Annie shrugged, throwing the magazine to the side. "I don't read Vogue. It's Cindy's."

"Who's Cindy?"

"Dad's girlfriend, she stays over. She leaves her stuff here sometimes."

"Oh, right," Lisbon replied, a little hurt she was unaware her brother had a new girlfriend, wondering if they had kept it all from her because her own mess of a love life. "How long has she been with your dad? Is she nice?"

"Few months. Yeah, she is okay, bit ditzy. She loves hair, makeup and fashion and all that crap but she is sweet."

"I can see, clearly it's rubbing off. Didn't see you as a girly girl, Annie," Lisbon replied giving a small smirk and noticing her dark heavy makeup and burgundy red nail polish on her fingers. Annie was dressed goth like but with bright red streaks through her long black dyed hair and her dramatic sexy eye makeup there was definitely elements of girly touches here and there.

"Hey, I ain't girly, I am still me," Annie protested seeing her aunt was now laughing at her. "Just because I like to look good and I am wearing a bit of make-up doesn't make me weak. You used to be like me and look how badass you used to be."

Lisbon's smile dropped by her niece's harsh remark.

"You can still be a strong independent woman and take pride in your looks, you know. Besides I don't wear make up for others, I wear it for me. If others get pleasure from that then so be it," Annie said confidently. With her niece's words swirling around in her head Lisbon started examining the ends of her hair noticing all the split ends trying to remember the last time it was she had visited a hair salon.

"I mean, look at what your wearing Aunt Reece!"

"What's wrong with it?" Lisbon pulled at her large plain baggy grey T shirt outward.

"Your jeans don't fit you for a start, I mean you always wore killer tight jeans to show off that wicked ass of yours now it's hidden behind some baggy denim. Dad has better T-shirts than you and what is with this awful man jacket? You need to fix up, Aunt Reece. Enough is enough. Dad said I wasn't allowed say anything to you because you're not yourself right now but I can't just sit here and see you like this any longer. You have been wallowing and moping for long enough over Patrick Jane." Annie stood up folding her arms across her chest and stared down at her aunt. "When was the last time you had sex?"

"Excuse me!" Lisbon chuckled, looking up in shock by her niece's blunt question. Annie rolled her eyes knowing her aunt still saw her as a child and not the twenty-year old woman she actually was.

"I said… when was the last time you got laid?"

"That's none of your business, Annabeth, and I am ending this conversation. Right now. Besides you are too young to understand." Lisbon pushed herself off the armchair heading up the stairs to the spare room not wanting to have this conversation, let alone with her young niece.

"Young? I am twenty years old! Sex is part of life, Aunt Reece. Everyone does it. Where did you think I was last night?" Annie said, running up the stairs behind her fleeing aunt, clearly not about to let the matter drop.

"Your dad said you were staying at your friend Amy's place," Lisbon said, spinning back around on the staircase.

"Well, duh, I am hardly going to tell my dad the truth, now am I? Yeah 'hey dad I am staying at Steve's tonight, you know, we hook up every now and then go at it like bunnies'."

Annie rolled her eyes when her aunt's mouth gaped open from shock and horror at her words.

"Don't look at me like that, you were in engaged at my age so how can you think I don't have sex? So, I will ask you again. When was the last time you got laid?"

It was Lisbon's turn to roll her eyes continuing up the staircase and entering the spare room.

"Oh my god, you have stayed faithful to him. Haven't you? I knew when Alex said you had refused a date with that Agent Andrews-"

"You've spoken to Alex?"

"Yeah…" Annie shrugged.

"When?"

"All the time. After he moved in with you me and dad wanted to make sure you were okay after everything so I would ring him up every few weeks and get updates to see how you were doing. He's so funny. He was telling me about the moany old battle axe who lives next door and how he cut her rose bush down to a stump just to annoy her and how he accidentally painted her cat blue."

"Did he now!" Lisbon replied grabbing her dirty washing off the bed. She felt a small pain at how betrayed she felt by Alex secretly talking to her family behind her back.

"Yeah. He cares about you. We all do. He also told me that guy at work has been asking you out for months now but you keep turning him down. Why?"

"I am not discussing this anymore."

"Is he ugly?"

Lisbon sighed at her niece who was like a dog with a bone and not letting it go. "No, he's not ugly but I don't need to explain myself to you… and just because I haven't jumped into bed with the first guy that asks me out doesn't mean I've been saving myself."

"That's exactly what you have been doing. Don't you get it? Jane disappeared on you. He left you. And he didn't come back. He went off the grid and then went back to that travelling circus and didn't give you a second thought and you've stayed faithful to him. He has probably been out there screwing half the woman across the U.S. all this time."

Lisbon felt a vile taste appear in her mouth at the thought of Jane being with another woman. "He wouldn't do that," Lisbon said, keeping her voice low and trying so hard not to think about that particular thought.

"Oh please. He's a guy! He has a penis? Doesn't he?" Annie stated leaning up against the frame of the door watching her aunt attempt to do her laundry. Not seeing Lisbon's distress she continued her rant. "Don't stand there telling me you think Jane hasn't got his dick wet in the last twelve months since he went AWOL?"

"He wouldn't," Lisbon snapped angrily, grimacing at Annie's crude choice of words about her husband's unknown activities over the past year. Jane had been celibate for nearly a decade and she liked to think that he had continued that this past year too. It wasn't Jane to do that.

"Oh please! Have you seen your husband? He's like a frigging aftershave model. Trust me Aunt Reece. Women want him. He is gorgeous."

"I said he wouldn't do that, Annie."

"Oh please, he is man. And no longer on some punishment mission. Even the likes of Patrick Jane would struggle to refuse a woman who was dropping her-…"

"Enough!" Lisbon shouted, shocking her niece with her loud outburst. "Jane wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that to me. He's my husband!"

As the words left her mouth Lisbon slowly sat down on the edge of the bed realising what she had just said and how she had clearly been holding out for Jane despite what she has been telling herself. Clutching a sweater tightly in her hands, tears filled her eyes. Not wanting her young niece to see her broken Lisbon buried her face in the soft item of clothing.

"I'm so sorry Aunt Reece." Annie quickly moved to sit beside her crying aunt. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Annie gently wrapped her arms around Lisbon's small frame leaning her head against her shoulder. Lisbon nodded but remained silent, accepting Annie's apology and trying her hardest not to show her tears. They sat for a few silent minutes with Annie arms tightly around her. Guilty for her tough love approach, noting it had been a tad over the top for her fragile aunt, Annie eventually released her from her hold.

"Maybe it's time to move on, Aunt Reece. You can't continue on like this. It's not healthy. And it's not you. You either take him back and forgive him or you try to move on." She leaned over giving her aunt a peck on her red wet cheek. "I will go make us some coffee, we got your favorite brand in…. Got some of that fudge cake you like too."

Lisbon smiled sweetly touched by her niece's attempts to make it up to her. Annie left the spare room giving her aunt some much needed space. Once alone Lisbon looked up, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the dresser mirror. Annie had a point. She had let herself go. Her hair was a mess, her eyes looked tired and her clothes did look really bad on her.

Lisbon eyes widened even further when she saw a few grey hairs poking out through her dark chestnut waves. Deciding that it was definitely time for change and that she had let Patrick Jane rule her world for long enough, she stood up pulling off her old baggy jeans and threw them at the trash can in the corner of the spare room.

She wiped her tears dry and decided that this whole mess had made her lose a sense of who she once was. She wasn't going to crumble and fall apart and she certainly wasn't going to run away from it. She had a job, she had a home, friends, family and Patrick Jane wasn't going to ruin all that because he finally decided to turn up out of the blue again.

Opening the spare room door Lisbon called out down the stairs. "Annie?"

"Yeah! Are you okay?"

"Do you have a number of a good local hair salon?"

Annie gave a small grin as she leaned out of the kitchen doorway relieved that maybe her tough love approach had had some good effect on her aunt. "Yeah, of course, there is a great one I go to. Shall I book you in? I am sure Sonny can fit you in this afternoon if I ask him nicely?"

"Yes please. Oh, then maybe after we can go to the mall, I think some retail therapy is needed."

"Whoohoo. I hear that sister!"

"And then you can tell about this sex buddy of yours…Steve." Lisbon chuckled, her voice disappearing back into the bedroom. Annie let out a laugh at her aunt's choice of words so happy to see that she wasn't treating her as a little girl anymore but at the young woman she actually was. She was also so happy to see it that the cool sassy Aunt Teresa Lisbon she knew loved and admired was still in there.

* * *

Jane watched as Cho's dark brown eyes scanned his face for a few seconds, his anger softening ever so slightly towards his unexpected honest confession. Jane shifted uncomfortably, not used to having to bare his soul so openly to others. Swirling the dark liquid around in his glass as a distraction Jane continued.

"It's not for the first time I have been in hospital either. I had a similar kind of episode when my family were first murdered." Jane kept his head dipped not wanting to see the pity no doubt now showing on Cho's face.

"So why didn't you come home?"

"I was embarrassed, ashamed… for being weak."

"Seeking help isn't a weakness, Jane," Cho stated firmly.

"I guess I felt like a failure, a loser who let everyone he cared about down… again. She needed me and I lost the plot again."

Cho remained silent and Jane knew that there was no turning back now in his story and he had to lay all his cards in the table.

"I don't really know what happened this time. According to the Doctors I suffered from a serious manic delusional episode they called it. Took the hospital a few weeks to trace who I actually was. When I was more myself I gave them Sam and Pete's names as my next of kin. I had no belongings or ID on me when I was found." Jane ran a hand through his hair feeling increasingly more vulnerable by every word he spoke.

"Eventually I got well enough to be released. Sam and Pete came and got me, as they were based up at Canon Ridge at the time. I was released into their care and still on heavy meds in a world of my own most days. I kept putting off ringing and speaking to Teresa but Sam made me finally face the music. They had already spoken to her when I first got released to let her know that I was safe and ok. Told her what had happened. We all agreed it was a good idea I stay with Sam and Pete just until I was feeling more myself. Lisbon was upset obviously about everything and she said she needed some time apart.

"You spoke to her? You actually spoke to her?" Cho asked, leaning back against the leather covered bench as Jane gave his side of the story.

"Yeah. I was on quite heavy meds then but I spoke to her on the phone, told her I loved her and how sorry I was and for worrying her and that I would promise to make it up to her... Then after a few weeks resting up and being looked after by Sam and Pete I started to feel more like me again. I was slowly coming off the meds too. Doctor said I was recovering well and would make a full recovery. I spoke to Lisbon and told her I wanted to come home. That I missed her. But then…"

"But then what?" Cho asked, curious to what excuse he would use for keeping away for the past nine months.

"Sam was killed." Jane lowered his eyes to the table as they began to fill with tears. Jane turned his head away from the man opposite in embarrassment. Regaining his emotions and back in control Jane continued on with his tale. "It was a car crash. She died instantly."

"I am sorry for your loss." Cho nodded sympathetically knowing that Sam and Pete were like family to Jane.

"Thanks." Jane nodded his head accepting Cho's sympathy.

"After that Pete fell apart completely. He and Sam had been married for over twenty years, she was his whole world. I couldn't leave him. I know that feeling of total devastation and grief and after everything I had just been through and everything Pete had done for me in my life I had to be there for him for a change. I told Lisbon I would stay and work the summer circuit so that Pete wouldn't end up losing his livelihood. He was in really a dark place, drinking himself half to death most days and someone needed to look after Daisy the elephant, she said she understood with what happened with her own father which is why I don't get Lisbon's reaction towards me today."

Cho raised a sceptical eyebrow at the man not quite believing he was telling the whole story.

"Whilst I never expect a welcome home party, no, I didn't expect her to lash out at me that way. I sent her gifts, cards, texts, we spoke on the phone. I get that it wasn't a perfect situation for our new marriage and to get things back on track with being halfway across the country but it was only for a short time. She knew this. She never said anything to me about how upset she was about it."

"Are you sure you actually spoke to her?" Cho asked, questioning Jane's sanity considering the circumstances and his past medical history.

"What? You think I hallucinated it all?" Jane narrowed his eyes at the agent's remark getting the full implication behind Cho's words.

"I don't know. Maybe," Cho answered bluntly.

Jane shook his head in disappointment that Cho had asked him that question, although he couldn't blame him, if the shoe was on the other foot he would be asking the exact same questions. "I know my wife Cho and I know I spoke to her. Regularly in fact."

"Well then that leaves only one answer. Whoever it was you were in contact with, it wasn't Lisbon."

Jane bit his bottom lip feeling the anger rise in him. "I know my wife, Cho. It was her," Jane repeated again. Whilst he could understand Cho's line of thought, he also knew he had been in full functional capability of his mind these last few months and he had definitely been talking with Teresa Marie Lisbon Jane."

"And I am telling you Jane, it wasn't her," Cho added seeing the consultant's frustration towards him. "She spent three months searching for you, I watched her break herself down on no food and no sleep and worrying your body was going to show up in a morgue somewhere. Then we finally get a trace, or at least Wylie did, and we find out you are safe and sound, living and working back with your carney circuit. A few of FBI California agents came out to visit you at the time and you told them that they were to leave you alone, you weren't going back to Texas and they had to leave before you let the elephant loose on them."

Jane groaned inwardly, running his hand down his face remembering saying those exact words to the two clueless agents that had showed up one day at his carney trailer.

"Yes, okay I did say that but it wasn't like it seemed. I thought they were there for Schultz, coming to bring me back to work for the FBI so I sent them sharply on their way." Jane gazed directly into Cho's eyes. "I swear I am telling you the truth, Kimball. I would never leave Teresa or not keep in contact with her, not after everything we been through together."

"It's not the first time you have done it."

"That's unfair and totally different," Jane snapped taking a large sip of his drink annoyed that the agent was throwing his past at him. "That was a con, a trap and she wasn't my wife back then," Jane said raising his voice slightly and making the barman look up from cleaning beer glasses. Jane inhaled a deep breath pushing down his anger and gaining control of his emotions once more.

"I only stayed with the circuit because Lisbon and I agreed I should. Pete needed me. I – I even invited her to come join me." Jane took a large sip of his whiskey, his head racing with his own questions and starting to wonder if he had maybe had another manic episode and had been losing his mind all this time without knowing it again.

"Well...I don't' know what to say. All I know is that Lisbon hasn't heard from you since the day you left. She has been lost without you. When she found out that you were back on the circuit and had left her it broke her heart. I barely even recognise her these days."

"I need to speak to Teresa." Jane quickly moved out of the booth buttoning his suit jacket up. "I need to find out exactly what the hell has been going on." Jane threw a few dollars down on the table for his drink. "I know my wife Cho, and I know I have been in talking with her. I am telling you, it was her."

"What are you going to do?" Cho enquired, his conscience starting to believe the consultant may actually be telling him the truth. It wasn't often Patrick Jane bared his soul honestly and Cho had seen the genuine hurt and grief in his eyes when had been talking about his breakdown and the loss of his family, Sam.

"What I do best! Find out the truth."


	4. Chapter 4 Truths

**Hiii. Sorry for the delay in updating, my real life got in the way. So here is a quick chapter. Its more of filler chapter to be honest but hope you all enjoy it still.**

 **There are some great TM FF authors writing great stories currently at the moment, so I want to THANK YOU for all the reviews to my last chapter. I am always so touched by your support and that you're actually reading my little story.**

 **( & It's fun watching you all trying to guess the twists and answers too.) **

**Thank you also for the follows, favs and to all the anons too. xx** **Enjoy. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist, unfortunately.**

* * *

 _ **I miss you…**_

 _ **I really miss you too but if Pete continues improving in this way, there may even be a chance I'll be home earlier than before the end of season. He seems to be much better this week… it was a rough few months but I think he may have turned a corner… I really do.**_

 _ **You're a good friend, Jane. Without you there the worst would have happened. I wish someone had been there for my father after my mother… he may have not ended his life the way he did…. Uh, who was that?**_

 _ **Daisy. (chuckles)… The elephant.**_

 _ **Oh, right. (chuckles)**_

 _ **Just came out for a late night walk, stopped by her pen.**_

 _ **Should I be jealous?**_

 _ **Maybe…**_

 _ **Really? My competition is a 12ft elephant.**_

 _ **Hey there's no competition with you. You win every time, with every elephant & every woman out there.**_

 _ **Yeah? I do?**_

 _ **Always. …. So…what are you wearing?**_

 _ **What?**_

 _ **(Sighs…) What. Are. You. Wearing?**_

 _ **Jane! (gasps in shock)**_

 _ **What? … It's been 6 months since I made love to my wife and it doesn't look like that is going to be happening anytime soon as you have cancelled another weekend trip to come see me…so….**_

 _ **Okay okay… I'm wearing my navy blue teddy.**_

 _ **The lacy one?**_

 _ **Yes….**_

 _ **The one that has the low V at the front…**_

 _ **YES… that one. (whispers quietly)**_

 _ **(Chuckles…) you know you're not very good at this phone sex, Teresa.**_

 _ **Phone sex?**_

 _ **Yeah, you know couples do it when they are separated for long periods…**_

 _ **I know what it is Jane but one minute we're talking elephants and the next you're spicing things up. (Sighs) Look I best go. I have an early start tomorrow. I am off to New Orleans for the Johnstone case.**_

 _ **Really? But things were just getting interesting… and I've hardly spoken to you these past few weeks. Texts only go so far, Teresa.**_

 _ **I know, I know but work is so busy at the moment. I am sorry. Look, I promise to give you a sexier time when we speak next.**_

 _ **Okay… (groans disappointedly)**_

 _ **Anyway, I don't think I will be very good at that sort of thing.**_

 _ **Of course you will. Before you ring me just think of the sexiest time we have had together…**_

 _ **That's it?**_

 _ **Ah huh… (long pause ) You're thinking about that time in the shower, aren't you?**_

 _ **Nope…**_

 _ **No?.. hmmm… but it does involve water. Right?**_

 _ **How did you know that?**_

 _ **Oh… Got it! The time in the hot tub on our honeymoon….**_

 _ **Nope… (chuckles) although that was fun.**_

 _ **hmmm…okay…. when?**_

 _ **The time we went away for the weekend and we found that little stream and parked the airstream up and spent the next two days making love…**_

 _ **Ah! Yes. Perfect… and very very sexy if I remember rightly.**_

 _ **Yes, it was… (chuckles). I really have to go Patrick I can hardly keep my eyes (yawns)… open… I will call you in a few days. Okay.**_

 _ **I look forward to it, promise to stay safe.**_

 _ **I promise.**_

 _ **I love you, Teresa.**_

 _ **you too. Bye.**_

Lisbon sat upright as she was startled awake from her afternoon nap. Her very hazy dream of talking on the phone to her husband still fully fresh in the forefront of her mind as she slowly gained her senses. Her dream had seemed so real but she knew that it just her subconscious playing her up. Wasn't the first time she had dreamt of this type of scenario. When they first started Alex had suggested that maybe she was just projecting her true desires and they were coming out in her subconscious mind. And he was right, of course. Although she was having more and more of them lately. Always the same, the two of them talking on the phone with Jane away with the carnival and her busily working for the FBI.

The sound of Annie's mumbled voice floated through the house coming from downstairs in the kitchen. Lisbon climbed off the bed stretching out th kinks in her back. Whilst she had only been at her brother's place for few days she had to admit the break was doing her a world of good. She definitely wasn't feeling as tired as she had been these last few months. She even had her appetite back despite the upheaval in her life that was Patrick Jane return. She wasn't claiming to be a totally changed person but with her new haircut, new clothes and getting regular sleep she definitely felt slowly more herself again.

Lisbon entered the kitchen to find her niece working on her college work.

"Oh, hey you're awake? Are you feeling less tired?" Annie asked, greeting her aunt as Lisbon headed straight for the fridge for a refreshment.

"Yes, I do actually," Lisbon replied yanking open the fridge door and grabbing the fresh orange juice carton from its holder.

"Uh… Jane called... Again," Annie informed her awkwardly. Ever since her aunt had arrived two days ago her husband had called everyday at least four times a day. Lisbon sighed, not at all surprised by Annie's announcement, pouring fresh juice into a glass and leaning her back against the kitchen worktop.

"He said to tell you if you don't call him back today then he will drive down here personally and come get you."

Lisbon sighed again, rolling her eyes at Jane's threat knowing full well he would act on it if pushed. "Thanks Annie. I promise to call him later."

"What are you going to say?"

Lisbon moved across the kitchen and sat down at the table next to her niece." Honestly. I am not sure," Lisbon answered, biting the inside of her cheek and lowering her eyes down to her juice in deep thought.

"Well, whatever you do decide, just make sure it's what you want Aunt Reece and it makes you happy. He needs to make it up to you for leaving." Annie squeezed her aunt's hand letting her know that whatever choice she made over her runaway husband and her failing marriage she had her family's support even if secretly they did think she should kick his ass to the curb.

"I think I will go for a walk. Clear my head some more. I will leave you to study," Lisbon told Annie as she stood up from the table. As Lisbon made her way to the exit she gently placed a kiss to her niece's dark hair and gave her shoulder an affectionate touch, letting her know how grateful she was for her family's love, support and care.

* * *

Jane exited the cab looking at the neat terraced house with the familiar burgundy red door. He had lived at the property for a few months after they had first got married whilst the cabin was still being finished but he had never classed it as his home.

There was something about the house that just felt off to him. He knew that one of the reasons was that Pike had spent his time there and had once greeted him at the door. That was playing a big part of his discomfort or like of the house. As petty as that seemed.

His phone vibrated in his pocket alerting him that he had a text.

 _ **I will call you at 9pm**_

 _ **T**_

Reading the text he sighed, placing the phone back in his jacket. At least she had made contact so it was a start. He would give her until nine o clock and if she didn't phone him back then he would drive through the night to New Mexico to go get her.

First though he wanted to check her place out to see if there was any clue or explanation for what had been going on since he'd been away. He knew she would go ballistic if she found out he was breaking into her home but in his defence she wasn't returning any of his calls and he had left it a whole two days before he acted. Lisbon was being stubborn and trying to punish him so he had no choice but to go ahead with solving this mystery without her.

Jane reached the red front door as the cab pulled away. Bending down to move the flower pot to retrieve his hidden key Jane paused when he found the key wasn't there anymore, just a dirty outline where it had once been. He groaned at his luck, why couldn't these things ever be simple?

Pulling out his lock pick set from inside his jacket he inserted the pick into the door. After a few seconds of fiddling he was suddenly startled by a shrill voice behind him making his picks fall carelessly to the floor.

"EXCUSE ME?! What are- … Oh. Mr Jane. It's you."

Jane spun around to come face to face with his older next door neighbour, Mrs Penelope Milton. Mrs Milton was roughly mid-sixties, immaculately dressed and you could see she was once an attractive woman in her youth. She was also the known busybody of the neighbourhood.

"Uh, Mrs Milton. Nice to see you again," Jane said falsely, plastering a dazzling smile on his face at the sour faced woman eagerly observing him and the front door.

"So the wanderer returns! You've decided to return to your responsibilities have we? Well, you men do think you have the right to relinquish all your martial vows when it suits you. My cousin Maureen's husband, Glen, he left after twenty years of marriage for a twenty-two-year-old waitress from Nebraska." Mrs Milton grimaced at the words _waitress_ and _Nebraska_ as though they were the worse things to say in her world.

"But then three years later that hussy took him for every penny he had and guess who he came back too with his tail between his legs? Yes that's-"

"Can I help you with something, Mrs Milton?" Jane asked, interrupting the woman before she could bore him with any more of her tales of family marriage breakdowns.

"Here." Mrs Milton held her hand out passing Jane a white envelope.

"What's this?"

"It's Nigel's expenses," Mrs Milton said firmly. "After what that that…ruffian did to my Nigel you're lucky I am not suing you."

"I'm sorry, Nigel? Whose Nigel?" Jane asked, frowning as he opened the envelope to find an invoice from a company called Furry Clean.

"Nigel Kennedy Milton. My award winning Persian cat, Mr Jane!"

"Oh, right, your cat…" Jane nodded, remembering how the furry grey beast had kept wandering into their back yard and kitchen. Jane had sworn it was actually a pig with fur in disguise but Lisbon had assured him it was of the feline family.

"Yes. Nigel my cat!" Mrs Milton repeated becoming increasingly frustrated at Jane's slow uptake.

"Nigel?" Jane smirked that Mrs Milton had named her cat Nigel.

"Yes, Nigel. He is named after my late father, god rest his soul, daddy was a successful prize winning cat breeder I will have you know," Mrs Milton said proudly lifting her chin in the air with a sense of pride at her father's odd occupation. "He adored everything to do with pussy."

Jane let out a small unexpected chuckle which quickly turned into a coughing fit at Mrs Milton's last statement. It was very obvious that Mrs Penelope Milton was of a different generation, an older generation, one who was well-educated and had a rich up bringing as a child, so she had no idea at how her last comment could been taken in the other way in this day and age. Mrs Milton folded her arms across her chest becoming more and more irritated at the younger man and not catching the joke that was clearly at her expense. "Mr Jane. What is so funny?"

"Sorry, sorry. I just got a frog in my throat," Jane said, composing himself again after the older lady's slip up of words. Mrs Milton rolled her eyes, not impressed. "So, Mr Jane, about my pussy?"

"You mean your cat?" Jane corrected, not sure he could control his composure if she kept saying that sort of phrase.

Mrs Milton sighed again and rolled her eyes skywards. "Yes, my pussy cat. Are you just going to repeat everything I say, Mr Jane? Wherever you have been this past year you haven't gained any fresh brain cells, have you?" Mrs Milton grabbed the invoice from Jane's hands and pointed to the $467.00 total at the bottom. "That is Nigel's grooming bill. Two days it took. Two days for the grooming parlour to get that blue paint out of his fur."

"Okay?" Jane said raising an eyebrow at the lady, not sure what all this had the hell to do with him.

"So I expect that disgrace of man to for pay it as he was responsible for what happened to my baby."

"Man? "

"Yes, Mr Jane!" Mrs Milton sighed exhaustingly as the repetitive conversation drained on. "That troublesome, rude, vulgar, thug uncle of your wife's. He is a disgrace to the neighbourhood since he arrived if I am being quite frank. Do you know he once flashed me fully nude from the shower window? I nearly had a coronary and this latest with the blue paint has left my poor Nigel very traumatised."

It was Jane's turn to roll his eyes at the amateur dramatics the older lady was now putting on. "Well if you will name the cat Nigel…" Jane mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

Mrs Milton gasped at Jane's insensitive words "That's exactly what her hooligan uncle said to me! You are just as bad as him. Tell Agent Lisbon I will speak to her when she returns. At least she seems a decent and kind sort of person…. unlike the rest of her family!"

Jane watched as his angry neighbour spun on her heels and stormed back down the path to her side of the fence. Jane shook his head in slight bemusement at the woman, still grinning from her cat comment. He wasn't entirely sure what the snob was going on about or what had occurred whilst he had been away that involved her cat or blue paint.

And who was this uncle of Lisbon's the old bag was referring to?

Lisbon didn't have an uncle. She did have a great aunt who lived in Chicago but her husband had passed on years ago. Jane pondered Mrs Milton's words for a few seconds before focusing his attention on opening the front door.

Mrs Milton may be a stuck up snob who looked down on everyone but she was also a very smart lady who still had all her marbles about her so there must be some element of truth to her claims. But he didn't have time to worry about that now.

Shoving Nigel's grooming bill in his jacket Jane went back to fiddling with the lock. With a few twists the front door eventually click opened. Jane gave a quick look along the street making sure no one was around before he entered his old home.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Bill stated, handing over a cold bottle of beer to his old friend Alex Jane as he took a seat at the garden table.

Bill Jenkins was in his late sixties, living his retirement days away from the old carney circuit on a farm in Oklahoma with his wife of forty years, Sheila. Alex accepted the ice cold beer settling himself down in the garden chair next to Bill and glancing up at the clear starry night sky above them.

"You find out that your long lost son Patrick is back in the country? That he's now back in the US working for the cops and he is remarried living with his new wife in Texas. Right?" Bill asked, recapping what Alex had already told him.

"Ah huh," Alex mumbled, looking up at the sky and enjoying the warm night breeze cooling down his skin.

"But then Ted from the old circuit tells you he hears that Paddy has disappeared, gone. No word. Nothing. So that's when you decide head down to Texas to find his wife?"

"Yes," Alex answered, sighing, not seeing the point of going over what he had just briefly explained to his old friend when he had shown up at his farmhouse.

"Why?" Bill asked, confused to the old conman's motives.

"Why? Why? I will tell you why Bill!" Alex snapped angrily. "That boy made millions doing his psychic con act. An act that I taught him how to do. Don't tell me there isn't some of that money left? He just bought his own land and built a massive house on it for Christ's sakes. Trust me Bill my boy has money still. Despite appearances. He has always craved making big bucks; this working for the cops crap is a con or a hobby." Alex paused, letting his anger simmer a little before continuing. "So… so I went to Texas, thought I'd get my hands on the cash, payback for him ditching me all those years ago."

"Didn't you try getting his money when he was still a rich psychic?" Bill enquired, remembering some sort of rumour about Alex's old tricks back then.

"Don't think I didn't try. That bitch Angie had me arrested. She put a harassment order out on me. I was barred from going within 500 yards of them and their kid. A few months later her and the kid got… well you know…" Alex looked down as a hint of sadness filled his eyes. Whilst he never liked Angela Ruskin or her carnie family much he wouldn't have wished that ending on her or anyone. Especially on an innocent child.

"So then why didn't you try to get his money after their deaths?" Bill enquired, raising a sceptical eyebrow at his old time friend. "From what I heard your Paddy probably would have given his money away by that point."

"Are you kidding me? That boy got himself caught up in some sick game with a serial killer, I wasn't putting myself in the firing line. I stayed well clear."

Bill shook his head chuckling. "Yeah, cos I heard Red John was into killing fat old grey haired men with stubble and a beer gut," Bill retorted at Alex's irrational fears.

"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Bill. About as funny as having herpes," Alex snipped back downing more of his beer and not amused by the man's sarcasm.

"So… why do you need a place to hide then? What have you done? Stolen Patrick's money?"

"No, no not quite…" Alex quickly diverted his eyes away in guilt. "But I really need to keep a low profile for a while and wondered if I could stay up here for bit. I could help you out on the farm."

Bill eyed his friend with suspicion. Wasn't like Alex Jane to hide unless things were really serious and the shit had hit the fan. "No." Bill told him firmly. "Not until you tell the full story. So…you turn up in Texas?"

Alex rolled his eyes and exhaled a large breath knowing he was going to have to come clean if Bill was going to put him up and keep his whereabouts secret. "Well, I came to Texas and found his new wife. She was in a bad way at that time to be honest. It was ideal. She was vulnerable, broken and searching for Paddy. She even invited me to stay with her for a few days when my crappy motel caught on fire. It was easier than taking candy from a baby but before I knew it I woke up and I had been staying there for a few months. And…"

Alex dipped his head down, picking nervously at the label of his ice cold beer bottle.

"And? …" Bill pushed, curious to know the rest of this intriguing tale.

"And then one day there was a call from a local nut house back in California. They had Paddy in their care. The boy had suffered some sort of nervous breakdown or something. Teresa was planning to go bring him home but… but… but those past few months had been so nice and she was so kind and accepting of me… and... and… I knew the minute Paddy came home, it was all over for me…" Alex stuttered desperately trying to convince Bill and himself that his past actions had been justified.

"Oh god! What did you do Al?" Bill swallowed hard, scared of what his old devilish old pal had exactly done. Bill knew first hand when Alex Jane wanted something he stopped at nothing to get it, pretty much like father like son in many ways.

With his head still lowered Alex refused to look up at Bill worried gaze but answered in a very shameful hush tone, gulping nervously as he finally confessed the truth out loud. "What I do best…."

"Oh. Sweet Lord Alex. _YOU HYPNOTISE HER_!"


	5. Honesty

**Hi All. Again thank you all for your reviews and follows for my story, you really don't realise how much it means to me and how much it encourages me to continue. Thank you. xxx**

 **This is my Christmas chapter for you all. I wanted to update just before Christmas and I've managed to do it despite my real life getting in the way. I also want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, I hope you all have a great time whatever and where ever you are and here's to a fantastic 2016 too. xx**

 **Thank you for reading my little story I really hope you are enjoying reading this as I am writing it. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist.**

* * *

Cho entered the bullpen, scanning the large open plan room for his team. Seeing Wylie's desk unoccupied again as well as Lisbon's, he sighed inwardly. They had a major case to solve with a dangerous sadistic serial killer on their hands and his team had chosen that week to create as much chaos for him as possible. In fact, if he was really honest with himself, it felt like ever since Patrick Jane had returned his team had become more complicated and troublesome.

"Where's Wylie?" Cho directed at Tork, who was sitting at his desk. Tork was momentarily distracted, unaware of Cho's presence as he pulled and prodded the skin on his lower stomach. Realising his boss was standing watching him his eyes shot upwards. "Oh hey boss! Do you think I have a rash?" he asked, lifting his shirt up further on his torso for Cho to look at.

"No," Cho replied sharply. "Where's Wylie?" he asked, ignoring Tork's health concerns.

"He called in sick." Tork tucked his shirt back in his suit's pants.

"Again?" Andrews added as he made his way over from the interrogation rooms. "Still got that nasty head cold then?"

Tork frowned at Andrews' words about Wylie having a cold. "He said he had a sore foot, said he twisted it climbing the stairs at his home."

Cho looked between the two men as they discussed Wylie's recent illnesses and accidents, suspicious about the IT Agent's claims. For a start Wylie didn't have any stairs in his home and he lived in a one bedded apartment. And, secondly, in the two years since joining Abbott's original team Wylie had not once taken one sick day off. In fact, the young tech had proudly told Cho once on a very long drive down to Corpus Christi that he hadn't had a day off sick since the age of 14 when he contracted tonsillitis from his first ever kiss and love, Gwen Taylor, who had lived opposite him.

"Any sign of Jane?" Cho said, pushing his concerns about Wylie aside for the time being, knowing full well what that answer would be to that question. Since his meeting at the bar with the wayward consultant and their honest and frank discussion, Jane hadn't shown his face again.

"Cindy Walton is here," Andrews said distracting Cho from his concerns regarding both Jane and Wylie. "She is waiting in the interrogation room."

"Thanks. Andrews, you come with me to speak to Ms Walton. Tork, you're now on tech and evidence until Wylie returns. Begin with ringing up to forensics and see what they found on the victim's laptop and tablet."

"Ah man, really? But it's all dull computer stuff, searching through emails and pointless statements!" Tork whined but quickly shut up when he caught the angry glare his boss was aiming his way. "Yes boss. I will get right on it." Tork quickly moved away from his desk, not wanting to get on the bad side of Cho. The man was stressed with everything as it was.

"Lisbon is coming back to work tomorrow so at least that's one plus side," Cho added as Tork sulked off to the break room leaving Andrews and Cho to interview the victim's friend. "We could really do with her help right now."

Cho was extremely grateful for his old friend and boss returning earlier than originally planned. He had received major flack for her public outburst at the crime scene two days ago but had luckily managed to convince the powers to be not to suspend or take any action against her. She had been exceptional as an FBI agent since joining two years ago and had a brilliant reputation as a hard working employee. Plus, Cho was in agreement at the time that Jane had fully deserved his welcome back greeting from his wife.

Cho glanced over at Andrews and saw his face light up for a moment at the mention of Lisbon's early return. Cho rolled his eyes skywards. The last thing he needed was some sort of twisted unrequited love triangle plot thrown into this mess and his team. While Cho had paired Lisbon and Andrews together a lot of the time on past cases he hadn't realised that it had developed into something more over the past few months.

"Is she okay?" Andrews asked as they reached the door of the interrogation room.

"You can ask her tomorrow," Cho stated as he began to the turn the handle of the door, not wanting to get involved. Andrews reached out, halting Cho from entering the room for a moment. "Is it true?" Andrews asked, his face pensive and little sad. "Is Teresa really married to that consultant guy you have brought in?"

"Yes," Cho said, not elaborating any further and turning the door handle again.

"She never said she was married. Not once," Andrew mumbled out loud more to himself than to Cho. He had worked with Lisbon and the team for over eight months and not once had anyone mentioned this mysterious husband who now had suddenly reappeared. So to find out this guy was married to Teresa was a shock to him. "She doesn't even wear a wedding ring," Andrews added, confused by it all.

"They are separated," Cho responded and spotted a slight flash of hope cross his team mate's face that Lisbon wasn't a total write off. "Listen. You don't want to get involved. For you own sake, Sean. Trust me."

With those as his last words on the matter Cho entered the small room to speak to the victim's flatmate. Andrews frowned at Cho's use of his first name. If his hardworking professional boss was dropping the professional relationship between them to give him advice, then whatever was going on with Lisbon and this husband of hers must be big.

"Hello Cindy, I am supervisory Agent Cho and you've met my colleague Agents Andrews already," Cho greeted the woman.

Cindy Walton was a very attractive professional career woman with long dark red hair and dark brown hazelnut coloured eyes. She was in her late twenties and worked for a big PR company down town. Cindy's skin was pale and her eyes were deeply bloodshot. She had spent the past two days in hospital suffering from traumatic shock after discovering Joanne Webber's tortured body.

"Yes, thank you for the tea," Cindy said aiming her comment at Agent Andrews, her voice shaky. Her hands shook as she tasted the hot sweet drink Andrews recently had fetched for her. He nodded and gave a small friendly smile to the badly traumatized woman.

"How are feeling?" Cho asked as he and Andrews took their seats in front of her. The hospital had released Cindy Walton but the hospital had advised that she was fragile and her mental state was clearly damaged by the horrific recent events of the last few days.

"Okay I guess. My parents are flying out to get me today. I am going to go home to Seattle for a while… get away from that house after you know…" Cindy's words trailed off as silent tears dropped from her eyes at the memory of her friend's bloody mutilated body flashed in her head once more.

"We know you have had a big shock but we really need to ask you some important questions. We have to ask you now whilst things are still fresh in your mind. We appreciate how hard this is for you but we want to catch whoever did this to Joanne, okay?" Andrews explained, seeing the poor woman was a mess even before they had started to probe more into the two women's lives.

"Okay. I understand." Cindy wiped her eyes with a tissue. She sat up straight in her chair, trying to show her emotional strength to the agents and that she wanted to help them catch Joanne's killer.

"The evening Joanne was killed, where had she been? What did she do?" Cho asked.

"I don't know. I was at some work charity event so I left the house before she did around six pm." Cindy quickly darted her eyes away from the two men as she spoke, letting both agents know she was lying.

"Cindy, please be honest with us, whatever it is you're hiding please tell us, we just want to catch this maniac. We believe he has killed four other women in Texas before Joanne."

Cindy Walton's eyes widened in horror as Cho explained the truth of the case they were working. "We really need to stop this psychopath before he kills another innocent victim," Cho said firmly but not too strongly, knowing the woman wasn't coping emotionally. "You told local PD at the crime scene she had been out for the evening? Where did she go Cindy?"

Cindy nodded, dipping her head slightly, knowing she had to be truthful to the agents. "She went to meet this guy."

"What guy?"

"I don't know. I swear," Cindy sputtered. "Dave or Doug I think she said his name was. I can't remember. She had met him online."

"Had she met him before?" Andrews probed gently.

"No. This was the first time."

"How did she meet him? Was it an online dating website?"

"Yes kind of. It's a site for casual dating. It's called…" Cindy Walton paused before answering. "It's called Date nights," the younger woman blushed bright red, clearly not a stranger to using the site herself.

"You mean hook ups?" Andrews enquired. He hadn't ever used these sites himself but he had a few friends who had when they first began popping up. Free sex with the promise of no strings attached was a big hit with some men and women.

"Ok, yes it's casual dating. Not everyone wants to find love or get married and have kids. Sometimes you just want to have some fun. And we don't all want some drunken letch we meet in a bar to take home," Cindy snapped when she felt Andrews and Cho were judging her and her murdered friend. "There's nothing wrong with it. They are all mainly professionals. Love is definitely not something I am interested in. Heartbreak, drama, compromising all the time. Who wants to fall in love?"

"You don't chose love; it just happens sometimes," Andrews said before realising he couldn't stop the words coming out, clearly referring to other matters.

"Why didn't you tell this all to Local PD when they first arrived and questioned you," Cho asked, puzzled by Cindy hiding this information.

"I don't know, I was in shock I guess and I didn't want her to look bad or for you all to think badly of her. Men can go out and do what they want but when us women do it you all judge us." Cindy's tears began to flow again. "This is all my fault, isn't it? I was the one who introduced her to the site. She works so hard and was fed up with having virtually no sex life because of it. All the drunken fools that you get in bars hitting on her, she was sick of it. I have used the site myself a few times in the past. You find other professionals with very little personal time looking for the same type of thing. No trailing bars or night clubs. It's easy. Something casual. Something fun. That's all." Cindy dipped her head in shame, trying her hardest not to sound embarrassed.

"Did she say where she was meeting this guy at all?" Cho asked.

"Some new fancy cocktail bar that was opening. She said that he had had gotten them onto the VIP guest list. God, she had never done anything like this before, she isn't as forward as me," Cindy said her voice catching in her throat. "I encouraged her to join up, it's all my fault she is dead. I got her killed."

"This isn't your fault Cindy," Andrews said, seeing the distress the woman was in and the extreme guilt that was now taking over her train of thought. "Did Joanne say anything more about this guy at all? What he did? What he looked like? Anything that can help us identify this man?"

"No, she just said that he seemed really nice in his emails. They had been chatting online with each other for a few weeks before deciding to actually meet up. She said that he had the same interests as her. That's all she said. Oh god Joanne, I am so sorry." Cindy openly wept, not being able to hold back her emotions any longer.

"Thanks Cindy, for being honest, you have been a big help," Andrews said when Cho nodded that they should end the interview. "But If you remember anything else, Cindy, then you need to let us know. Okay? Anything at all. No matter how big or small." Andrews handed over a card with the special crimes unit number on it and he jotted down his work cell number down too. Most women liked Agent Andrews, he was attractive but also gentle and charming and cho found that most women felt comfortable around him. The younger woman had given them more information than they had all on all five cases put together and this was the first real breakthrough in the case they had been looking for.

"I will." Cindy wept, trying to get control of herself in front of the kind attractive agent as her tears that just kept flowing.

"I will get one of the agents to escort you down to the entrance."

Cho and Andrews left the room heading directly for Tork's desk, who was sulkily slumped in his chair tapping heavily on his keyboard. When he spotted his boss and colleague heading his way he immediately straightened up and plastered an enthusiastic smile on his face.

"Hey boss, got some news. Forensics just called, they said they found nothing on Joanne's laptop or her tablet. In fact, they claim the history browser had been totally deleted on the same night of the murder. They are sending down the laptop for Wylie to look at. Apparently there is a way of getting the history back but takes an IT whizz to do it. But it's a big clue, I mean maybe this sicko met her through the internet and then deleted any trace of it off the laptop."

"Cindy Walton just confirmed the exact same thing," Andrews said. "Apparently Joanne met this guy through a hook up site called Date Nights."

"Hook up site?" Tork asked, frowning, unaware what this site or term meant.

"Yeah, you know? People looking for something casual rather than the whole love and marriage shebang," Andrews explained, seeing Tork's confusion.

"You mean like dating sites but just for sex?" Tork eagerly enquired, his eyes lightning up like a child at Christmas time.

"Yeah, that," Andrews rolled his eyes seeing the wheels turning in his little colleague's mind, guessing the blood was now rushing to other parts of his anatomy.

"Ring Wylie and ask him to come him. Tell him we need him ASAP," Cho ordered, knowing with Wylie's expertise they may be able to actually identify this guy.

"Uh, well I already tried to ring him Sir as I got stuck on how to scan this bank statement and his cell is now turned off. No voicemail either." Tork shrugged.

"Uh, sir. I'm Agent Pullman, Lily Pullman," said a small female voice behind the three men. Standing a few metres back was a small pretty blonde haired woman wearing dark red glasses, smaller in height than Lisbon and in her mid-twenties. "I work up in the electronic fraud department, I am the main tech guy over there, well not guy, I'm a girl, I mean a woman, you know with woman bits…"

"Just get on with it, Agent," Cho barked, realising he had the female version of Wylie on his hands.

"Right, of course. Well I can help you, with the laptop history issue I mean, I am not as good as Agent Wylie is but I am fairly useful with a few programs and systems that may help get the information you require back. Can easily find and access the online account of the victim. If you need me to?"

"Okay. Good. Welcome to the team," Cho said abruptly, not noticing the big happy smile that had crept upon the younger woman's face when she had been accepted to help out on Cho's special elite team.

"Really? I can join your team?" Pullman asked when Cho turned back around to address his team again. "Well maybe I should go ask my boss if I-…"

"No need. I will sort it with your team supervisor. You will assist on this case until Agent Wylie returns. Right, team briefing in ten minutes in the fishbowl, we finally have a few leads to follow up with now." Cho turned and headed straight to his office leaving his team behind him.

Andrews chuckled as Tork continued cursing and pressing random buttons on the scanner machine and little Lily giddily skipped over to the elevator to fetch her stuff from the fourth floor.

"Oh and someone find out where Wylie and Jane are?" Cho yelled out as he reached the door way to his office.

* * *

Lisbon sat calmly on the grass watching the children playing in the late afternoon sun. She leaned back on her hands running her fingers through the soft dry grass beneath her fingers. Suddenly the weight of one of her hands gave way, buckling underneath her. As she raised her hand she saw her hand was shaking and twitching. She wasn't cold, she wasn't sleep deprived and her blood sugar was fine so why did she have trembling in one of her hands.

She quickly flexed her fingers, clenching open and closed a tight fist. The trembling eventually stopped and she pushed her initial worries aside for the time being. She had noticed the same thing had happened a few nights before. Knowing she was due for her annual FBI medical check-up she decided she would wait and ask then what they thought it could be affecting her, hoping it didn't worsen in the meantime.

Pulling out her cell she glanced at the clock. It was just gone five and in a few hours she would have to make the call to Jane she had been putting off the past two days. Pushing herself up off the ground she brushed down the back of her jeans, needing to head back to her brother's home. It was time to face her disastrous mess of a marriage.

* * *

Both men sat in silence as the realisation of what Alex Jane had actually done sunk in. After the deafening silence became too much Alex Jane pushed himself up off the garden chair grabbing his crutch for support. He began hobbling in front where he and Bill were sat, anxiously running his hand over his face as the panic of the situation started to hit him.

"Jesus Christ Al! What were you thinking?" Bill asked, still reeling from Al's confession.

"I wasn't. I wasn't thinking." Al panicked, "I wasn't planning on doing it Bill, I swear to you. It just kind of happened." Al puffed out a deep breath before going on to explain. "She was really emotional over Paddy having been found alive so I helped her calm down by helping her with breathing techniques, next thing I knew I had put her in slight trance and… and… I saw my chance."

Bill raised his eyebrows up in horror.

"If she had brought Paddy home I knew I would be a goner so I just made her forget that's all and… and it worked." Bill groaned in disbelief not quite believing what his friend had done. Alex Jane exhaled another large staggered breath as the feeling of nausea started to hit him.

"Fuck me. Do you realise how serious this is? You have hypnotised your own daughter in law. NO! Let me rephrase that…you have been hypnotising a god damn FEDERAL OFFICER of the law! You could go to prison for hypnotising someone against their will. Jesus Christ Alex! Didn't that incident in Utah back in '82 teach you anything?"

Alex shot a look of fear towards Bill, the obvious panic etched across his face as his friend threw the hard truth at him and that particular incident.

"I would never hurt the girl. I wouldn't. She means too much to me," Alex pleaded, desperately trying to convince Bill that had never been his motive in this scenario.

"But you have been hurting her. Don't you get it Al! She doesn't know her husband has been in contact. What does she actually think? Does she think he is still missing?"

Alex flopped back down in the creaky chair, swigging a large gulp of his beer. "She thinks Paddy's left her. That he decided to return to the circuit," he told Bill sheepishly, his eyes glazing over as he heard how sad the truth sounded out loud.

Teresa Lisbon was a strong woman, one who refused to show her real upset publically so over time it had become easier for Alex to convince himself that she was doing ok, even if the reality wasn't so.

"Jesus, what I have done?" Alex mumbled quietly, running his hands down his face for the fifth time in less than a minute.

"So how have you managed to keep Paddy away and fooled all this time?"

"Hasn't been easy Bill, let me tell you. Directing calls, deleting answerphone messages, having to reply to texts, intercepting gifts and letters he sent her. I even swapped her cell phone without her realising. I had to blackmail the young kid she works with to help me when things were getting harder. Got him to intercept parcels he sent to her work and he installed a small fancy listening device to her E Phone so that I could really monitor what they were discussing and making sure I kept them apart."

"I phone," Bill corrected, rolling his eyes at Alex's lack of knowledge on modern technology. Bill studied Alex with a mixture of being a little impressed by the man's sneaky antics and absolutely horrified at the same time.

"So I made her forget a few phone calls. That's all. No big deal," Alex said, casually sitting back and downing the last of his beer trying in vain to turn his actions into something a lot of less trivial.

"Al, come on… not even you can justify this mess. You've made the poor girl believe her husband doesn't love her anymore."

Alex Jane lowered is head in shame knowing no amount of the Jane charm and carefree attitude would make this situation seem better.

After a few minutes Alex spoke again, his voice flat and deflated. "She started to have flashbacks. Some people are very easy to control under hypnosis, others not so much. Teresa has been fighting it. She's strong willed. I like that in her," Al chuckled as he stared up to the dark starry night sky remembering his feisty daughter in law fondly. "I can see why my Paddy fell for her… even if she a cop."

Alex glanced over the table to see Bill's eyes had widened in even more horror, having taken Alex's words about his daughter in law in the total wrong context.

"Oh pack it in, will ya!" Alex exclaimed angrily. "Don't be so sick. She is like a daughter to me," Al snapped, seeing what dirty conclusion had entered the man's head.

"Well, at least that's one line you haven't crossed," Bill sighed with clear relief. "So what about Paddy's hidden money then?"

"What about it?" Alex answered, frowning in confusion.

"Well… Did you get your hands on any of it?"

"Uh… no. No, I stopped looking." Alex quickly turned his head away, hoping Bill would drop the subject on the matter.

"So then why did you stay in Texas all this time?"

"Why? free board, food, beer. Why wouldn't I stay?"

Bill raised a sceptical eye brow knowing full well when he was being bullshitted. Alex gave a loud sigh, dropping his conman persona with his long term friend.

"Okay Fine! I liked being there with her and living there. Okay? She made me feel loved and welcomed for once in a very very long time. I felt like I had someone who cared about me in my life again," Alex replied honestly, his eyes glazing over at the nice memories he had made over the last eight months with new his daughter in law. "I lost all my family years ago. You don't know what that is like, Bill. It changed me when Annette left me," Alex told him, his tone full of pain and regret.

"Annette died, Al," Bill replied, a little taken a back that Alex Jane was still clearly affected by his wife's tragic death, so many decades still after the event. "Annette didn't leave you Al. It wasn't her fault," Bill said softly, seeing the pain and grief in the old rogue's eyes.

Alex Jane rarely ever spoke of his late wife or of her very sad death at such a young age. After her passing with cancer it changed Alex into more of the ruthless conman with no care or regard for anyone.

"Yeah, well..." Alex pushed aside his grief and buried his feelings on the matter. "Paddy did leave me out of choice. But with Teresa, she cared about me despite my flaws and my past. She made me feel at home, somewhere I could belong. Besides I think it helped her, you know me being around in the beginning when we didn't know where Paddy was. She was in a bad way when I showed up. I think me living there really did help her."

"Helped her?" Bill spat, coughing and choking on his beer. "You have been hypnotising her. She is a federal agent. Do you have any idea how serious that is? Jesus Al, you've done some stupid ridiculous things in your time but I think you've finally lost your mind!" Bill stated, stunned at how stupid Alex had been. "So what was ya gonna do when the carnie season finally ended? Huh? And Patrick finally came home? Answer me that."

"Uh, well, I don't' know. But I never expected him to show up and surprise her this early, did I?"

"So… because you liked having a nice family home, you thought it would be okay to destroy their marriage and hypnotise your son's wife into forgetting? Wow! I think I should have you admitted to the nut house instead," Bill told him sarcastically.

"It sounds worse than it is," Alex stated, rolling his eyes at Bill's blunt and dramatic choice of words.

"No trust me Al, it isn't. It's about as bad as it gets to be honest."

Alex gulped nervously before cracking open another bottle of beer and downing half the golden liquid in one go. Bill had always been the voice of sense and reason in Alex's life unfortunately. Trying to put a more positive spin on things Alex chuckled. "Listen. It will all be fine in the end, no real harm done. Paddy adores her. Trust me, I've read his soppy love letters and the texts he sends her… and I had to even suffer listening to a very uncomfortable late night call from my boy. Trust me Bill, that is one phone call no father should ever have to overhear his own son and daughter in law have."

Alex gave a small shudder, remembering that particular private intimate conversation he had to listen to between the pair a few weeks back.

"And Teresa is still madly in love with him despite her trying to hide her feelings. This badass cop act she puts on didn't fool me. Besides true love always wins in the end, right? Give it a few months they will both be fine and back together and it will all be forgotten about."

"Yeah, yeah you're right," Bill nodded, his tone softening in agreement at Alex's latest statement. "Yes, I mean I hear your Paddy is an easy going guy, who lets things go when someone wrongs him and his family!"

"You think?" Alex said optimistically hoping that there was light at the end of the dark tunnel he had dug himself.

"NO! You old fool!" Bill hissed. "Your son has killed four men in his lifetime. One of them being an evil serial killer who he hunted and tracked down for ten years for wronging him. Do you honestly think when Paddy discovers what you have done to his wife and his marriage, he will just let this all go?"

Alex Jane gulped nervously, knowing he was in serious trouble with his son. His initial fears of growing old and alone were the least of his worries now. At this rate he wasn't going to live past his next birthday when Patrick caught up with him.

"Well, well," Alex stuttered. "Can I at least hide out here for a while? Until I sort getting myself out of the country?"

Bill sighed, checking back at the farmhouse to make sure his wife Sheila hadn't overheard any of Alex Jane's latest fiasco. "Yeah, fine. Use our old trailer we keep parked out back."

Alex Jane smiled with relief that he now had somewhere to keep his head down low for a few days at least.

"But if your Patrick shows up here, looking for you Al, I am telling him exactly where you're hiding. Because I am not dying or going to prison for the likes of you, Alexander Jane. I am too old for this crap anymore."

"Fair enough. Thanks Bill," Alex replied, agreeing to Bill's terms. He watched as his oldest friend wearily headed back up towards the steps of the farmhouse. "You're a good friend Bill, you always have been. I want you to know that, thank you." Al told him quietly, not turning to look at the man as he said it.

Bill paused briefly, his eyes narrowed as he let Alex's Jane's words sink in. He had known the old trickster for over fifty years and never once had he ever heard Alex Jane ever be grateful or thankful to anyone or anything.

"Huh? Maybe something good has come out of all this mess. Seems you living with that FBI lass may have had a good influence on you finally, Alex Jane," Bill told him, still in shock by Alex's genuine gratitude. Bill entered the farmhouse letting the door quietly click behind him, leaving a very worried and very fearful Alex Jane sat alone outside with his thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6 Hidden

**_Happy New Year everyone. Here's the next update._ **

**Thanks for all the reviews and support it means so much. :)**

 **(For the guest reviwer who asked me what happened to Lisbon's Pregnancy? I think you maybe confused by another FF story. Lisbon has never been pregnant in this tale. Hope that clarifies that up for you. :)**

 **I do realise that Lisbon and Jane speaking after a year apart is what most readers want and most of the reviews I get ask me for that scene and you will get that but it is one of the pinnacle point of this story and I need to set more story parts before that can happen... but not long now though I promise you. Next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own TM. Nothing, nope, Nada. Zilch.**

* * *

Jane sat down on the edge of the uncomfortable king-sized bed in his motel room, his mind and thoughts racing with concern as he stared down at the two objects in the palms of his hands. After doing a quick search through Lisbon's house he had made a few startling discoveries, the two currently sitting in his hands were now troubling him the most.

For a start, the nosey busybody from next door Mrs Melton had been correct. Lisbon had been living with another guy. Thankfully the evidence in the house showed the unknown man had been sleeping in the spare room.

Jane had summarised the man had recently packed up all his stuff and left, though. He wondered if his return to Texas had anything to do with that outcome. Even if this unknown man was sleeping in the spare room that didn't mean there wasn't more between him and his wife. Pushing that awful gut wrenching thought to the back of his mind Jane turned his focus back to the two other worrying discoveries.

A large bottle of Zolpedium - sleeping pills.

And a smaller bottle of Prozac - Strong anti-depressants.

Both medications had been prescribed by her doctor and there were many side effects to go along with them. Main side effects listed were extreme drowsiness, insomnia, nausea, headaches, weight loss and memory loss.

Jane sighed, wondering if this mixture of heavy medication was playing a part in Lisbon's odd memory loss. Placing the half opened medication bottles back in his jacket pocket Jane tilted his head backwards, tightly shutting his eyes as he rubbed the sore inflamed bridge of his nose. He needed to take his own pain relief medication as the throbbing in his fractured nose was slowly returning.

How had he missed this! How had he not realised his wife was in such a bad way? He prided himself on his keen detective skills and seeing the truth in people, so how had he not realised this all before now? And how had Lisbon hidden this all so well?

Jane wondered if Cho's theory on this whole matter was accurate. That maybe he was still unwell and not functioning on full Patrick Jane capacity. He pulled his cell phone out dialling Pete Baroski's number. After a few rings the older man answered.

"Hey Paddy boy, everything ok?"

"Not really Pete, look, I need to ask you something delicate and I need you to be honest with me. Fully honest." Jane emphasised the word 'fully', knowing that honesty wasn't a big part of a carney's lifestyle but hoping Pete would hear the desperation and seriousness in his tone.

"Sure. Fire away."

Jane let out a staggered breath, preparing himself. "When I got ill and I came to stay with you and Sam…" Jane paused for a moment, uncomfortable to say the actual word out loud, "…after my breakdown."

"It's actually called a manic episode," Pete corrected him, having just had a similar experience with the loss and death of his own wife.

"Yeah, that. Look, my point is did I ever… hallucinate? Or have hallucinations?"

"Hallucinations?" Pete repeated, clear confusion in his tone.

"Yeah, you know, like did I imagine scenarios, did I start talking to people who weren't there? Angela, Charlotte… Teresa?"

"Uh, no, not that I am aware of, buddy," Pete told him, still a little confused by Jane's odd line of questioning. "Are you having these hallucinations right now?" Pete enquired gently. His worry for his friend became more apparent as the conversation went on.

"No, no, I am fine. I have felt fine for a long time but something odd is going on here and for some reason Lisbon is totally unaware that we have been talking these past nine months," Jane explained.

Pete chuckled ironically. "Well that's just crazy; I was there when you spoke to her some of the times. Maybe she is just angry you stay on the circuit for so long and playing you along," Pete answered, knowing how some people could react when hurt and when pride was involved.

"No, no, that's not Teresa's style. I haven't even spoken to her about it all yet. She's been hiding at her brother's place these past two days. She's ringing me in an hour," Jane added hopefully.

"Well I am no quack Paddy but all I know is that the doctor said your mind shut down for a short period but they never mentioned any delusions or hallucinations. To be honest you weren't really in any state to be conjuring up imaginary people or situations when we brought you back home. Besides I know for a fact Sam spoke to Pepper personally after you were released for the hospital. So that should be proof enough for you that you are not losing your mind or having hallucinations," Pete told him confidently.

Jane gave a sigh of relief that he wasn't breaking down again and what he knew was the real truth. "Thanks Pete. You're a good friend. I best go, there's someone I need to see before I speak to Teresa." With that Jane said his goodbyes, quickly ending the call.

He grabbed his door key card off the side table. He had a little over an hour before Lisbon was to call but he needed every bit of help to back up his side of the story up if he was going to convince Lisbon of the truth. Shutting the motel door he headed for the rental car he had hired earlier that day. Once he had spoken and smoothed things out with his wife he definitely needed to locate where his beloved airstream was. Driving a big rental SUV was not really his style. According to the FBI, Lisbon still had his silver baby in her possession but it hadn't been parked up at the house or at their new cabin so maybe she had put it in a lock up or something.

Jane turned out of the motel car park turning westward. There was one person who he knew held some of the answers to this odd mystery.

 **Wylie.**

* * *

"Boss, no offence but why are we here? Shouldn't we be heading to the bar to pick up CCTV footage?" Andrews questioned as he and Cho stepped out of the small elevator and down the corridor of a small apartment block.

"I told you. I want to check on Wylie first." Cho purposely strode head knowing exactly what door he was looking for.

"But since when do we make house visits? Poor lad's just hurt his foot. I am sure he will be back in work in a few days after some rest," Andrews added, knowing everyone took the odd sick day or two in their lifetime and pretty sure that was what Wylie was doing right now.

Cho remained silent, not convinced by that explanation. Arriving at Wylie's apartment Cho thumped his fist hard against the front door. Waiting a few seconds and getting no response he repeated the action again. "Wylie! Open up!" Cho yelled, banging his fist heavily again. After assessing that Wylie wasn't going to answer he took a step backwards.

"It looks like Wyl-… Jesus Christ!" Andrews squeaked in shock when Cho's leg raised back, violently kicking the front door open without any warning. The force of Cho's kick broke the lock and the front door swung open banging heavily against the inside wall. Andrews watched as his boss entered the apartment. The sound of the apartment door opposite creaked open. In the crack of the doorway Andrews saw a small elderly lady with rollers in her hair peeking through the gap to see what the noise was all about.

"Nothing to worry about, ma'am. We are the FBI. Uh, it's a gas leak!" Andrews said unconvincingly, flashing his badge at the petrified neighbour. He reluctantly entered Wylie's apartment and pushed shut the broken door behind him. Andrews stepped forward, his eyes scanning the apartment and taking in the sight in front of him.

"Wow! This place is a mess," Andrews observed, nudging an empty can of soda with his foot as he came to stand beside his sullen looking boss. The whole living area was covered in empty cans, beer bottles, take way cartons, dirty plates, half filled mugs, un-ironed or dirty clothes, scattered sneakers, PS4 games, laptops, I-pads and some extremely large FBI cases holding hi-tech equipment he wasn't familiar with.

Cho stood quietly. This wasn't like Wylie. He had visited Wylie's place once before when heading out together on a case and it had been spotless back then. Wylie was very particular about where everything went. Everything in his life had its place so to see the young guy's apartment in this much disarray and mess was a little worrying.

A sense of guilt flooded through Cho's veins as he realised he had taken his eye off the ball and let his new high flying career role take over too much. His own team had been slowly falling apart around him and he was totally unaware of it. Whilst his team still held the record for most solved cases despite jane's absence Cho realised he may have let his drive cloud other elements of being a good leader.

"Check the kitchen," Cho ordered, knowing in his heart Wylie wasn't there but felt like he had to do a full search of the apartment anyway. Cho approached some of the scattered hi-tech equipment that sat on the coffee table. Picking up a very expensive FBI surveillance camera Cho's first guess was Wylie had been stealing equipment from the Bureau, or at the best borrowing it. This type of specialist equipment was only used in major and highly sensitive cases and certainly wasn't supposed to be taken home for everyday use.

Cho's attention was drawn back to Andrews who was exiting the kitchen with a look of disgust plastered on his face. "You don't want to go in there!" Andrews told him, wiping his hands on a tissue from his jacket. "The boy may be a brilliant IT whiz but he needs a lesson in food and health hygiene."

"This isn't like Wylie," Cho said bluntly, more convinced that they needed to find the young lad now. "Check the bedroom and his bathroom too whilst I gather up this all stuff. We need to get this lot back to Bureau ASAP."

Andrews nodded before disappearing in to the bedroom whilst Cho started to pack the expensive surveillance equipment back into their cases.

"Uh boss…"

"Yeah…"

"You might want to come see this."

Cho tensed, not liking the sound of Andrews' tone. Cho entered the bedroom to find Andrews looking up at the wall behind him. Cho spun round and let out a quiet groan when he saw what Andrews had discovered.

Across the back bedroom wall was what could only be described as a memorial shrine to Agent Michelle Vega. There were at least fifty different pictures of the young brunette taken over the years and as well as a few candles with Vega's FBI profile picture enlarged and placed squarely in the middle as the main focal point.

"Were they involved? Romantically, I mean?" Andrews enquired, knowing that the young Tech had spoken fondly of the young woman since he joined the team but wasn't aware there had been any personal relations between them.

"No," Cho answered bluntly. "But he was in love with her," he added more softly.

The sound of the broken apartment door creaking open alerted both agents to someone else now present in the apartment. Both Cho and Andrews quietly drew their weapons. Moving swiftly to the bedroom door Cho nodded to Andrews to follow his lead when the sound of the footsteps grew louder and they heard stuff being moved around in the living area. Pulling open the bedroom door Cho and Andrews stormed the living area ready to confront the intruder.

"Put your hands up!" Cho shouted, manoeuvring himself to a clear advantage point. Slowly the intruder raised his hands and turned to face him, revealing who he was.

"Jane!" Cho hissed irritably, sticking his gun back in his holder. Andrews kept his weapon drawn, not being as well acquainted with the man as Cho was.

"Hey Cho! Fancy seeing you here!" Jane answered grinning playfully at the two agitated agents. "Do you mind Alan? I hate guns," Jane remarked sarcastically towards Andrews who was still pointing his weapon at his head. Cho nodded to Andrews to lower his weapon.

"And it's Andrews, not Alan," Andrews replied, correcting Jane's name mistake.

"Right, whatever…" Jane waved a dismissive hand in the agent's direction showing the man no respect whatsoever.

"What are you doing here Jane?" Cho asked firmly.

"Well, not kicking down doors." Jane motioned his head in the direction of Wylie's broken door. "I came here to speak to Wylie. What are you doing here?"

"We came to do the same thing."

Jane hummed as he walked around the messy apartment taking in all his surroundings. "Well despite the mess, no-one has ransacked Wylie's place. So no need to fret about his safety," Jane informed them, relieved by this but finding it extremely hard to imagine Wylie would choose to live in this kind of state. The young lad was impeccably neat in his life and his work normally, this kind of mess ran deeper than just being untidy.

"No but we have discovered something… off," Andrews added awkwardly grabbing Jane's full attention.

"Off?" Jane watched as the two FBI agents headed back towards the bedroom. Jane followed, slyly spotting a lady's top lying haphazardly on the bedroom floor under some discarded clothes as he entered the room. Noting that away for the time being Jane focused on the wall the two agents were now standing before.

Jane raised a shocked eyebrow at the large shrine placed on the wall. Stepping forward and taking in all the pictures of the young Vega Jane felt a pang of sadness and guilt. Sadness at a tragic life being ended so soon. Guilt that he hadn't spotted how badly affected Wylie had been by the young woman's death and how the young lad had hidden his pain from everyone.

On a good day Jane would have seen straight through that type of act but at the time of Vega's death he had his own demons to deal with. He hadn't taken much time or effort to notice anyone else's before disappearing.

"Where is Wylie now?" Jane asked, more sombre, touching the wick of one of the candles placed at the bottom of the shrine, feeling to see if they had been lit in the past few days. The wick was hard and brittle. By the look of the dry wax around the base of the candle Jane guessed it hadn't been lit in a few days at least, meaning that Wylie hadn't been home lately.

"We don't know. He has called in sick the last two days." Cho folded his arms, still curious as to why Jane was there in the first place and becoming more convinced by the minute that his pain in the ass consultant was somehow involved in the Wylie's odd behaviour.

"Why are you really here, Jane?" Cho asked again.

"Well, because Wylie knows something," Jane stated truthfully. "About what has happened to Lisbon since I've have been away, I am sure of it." Jane glanced over to Andrews, letting the man know that whatever had been going on he would discover the truth. Andrews frowned at Jane's intense gaze, not sure why he was getting a death glare from the consultant.

"When I returned two days ago Wylie started acting funny, yes? And at the hospital he completely ran out on me. He is scared, worried… living in fear even."

"And I wonder why?" Andrews mumbled rudely under his breath at the crazy consultant.

Jane ignored Andrews' rude remark. "Something is wrong with my _wife_ and my guessing is Wylie knows what it is," Jane told them emphasising the word 'wife' for Agent Andrews' benefit. He had seen how the agent had looked at Lisbon back at the crime scene and he didn't like it one bit. Cho bit his bottom lip considering Jane's theory for a second. It couldn't be a coincidence that Jane's return and Wylie's strange disappearance just so happened at the same time.

"Or maybe, he just didn't want to be around you," Andrews added, placing his hands on his hips showing he wasn't being intimidated by the consultant.

Jane laughed mockingly at Agents Andrews attempt to stand his ground. "Here's a word of advice, Archie." Jane stepped forward coming face to face to Andrews and snidely using the wrong name on purpose to rile the other man up some more. "You really don't want to make an enemy of me."

"Or what?" Andrews squared his shoulders back as he and consultant eyed each other with equal loathing.

"Ok, that's enough. We need to focus on finding Wylie," Cho said, glaring at the two men acting like school boys. Jane backed down first grinning smugly at the Agent before walking out the bedroom. Cho followed shortly after going back to packing the equipment away Wylie had taken from Bureau.

"I am guessing all this stuff is linked to his odd behaviour too." Jane leaned over the gear noticing that every piece of equipment was surveillance related. "Have you had many cases involving surveillance lately?" Jane asked curiously, picking up a long scope camera lens and examining it.

"No," Cho confirmed, still baffled by why Wylie had been taking surveillance gear home. "Maybe his mother has heard from him."

"Uh boss…" Cho and Jane tuned to see Andrews holding what looked like a large joint in his fingertips. "Found this marijuana joint in the bedroom drawer in there."

Jane narrowed his eyes in mischief seeing an perfect opportunity to show Andrews up some more. "And how do you know it's marijuana, Agent Athens? Smoke it yourself, do you?"

Jane grinned when he saw the fear appear in the man's eyes darting quickly at his boss in worry.

"What! No! I... I… yes I… I mean I…." Andrews quickly became flustered so thrown by Jane's question he narrowed his eyes in anger when he saw Jane's big smug grin widened at his discomfort.

"…I worked in vice for a while, okay!" Andrews finally snapped, pulling himself together. Cho pulled out his cell to contact the office for Wylie's mother's contact number.

"I wouldn't bother. His mom won't know where he is," Jane said to Cho knowing exactly what he was thinking and who he was planning to contact. "I would be more inclined to speak to the other woman in Wylie's life first."

"Woman? What woman? What is he harping on about?" Andrews asked exhaustingly as Jane disappeared into the bedroom again for a few moments. Jane returned with a flimsy lacy red top in his hand.

"This woman," Jane threw the garment at Andrews hitting him squarely in the face. "Whoever owns this top knows our Wylie fairly well I'd say; why else would her clothes be on his bedroom floor? I mean, only a woman you know intimately leaves clothes at a guy's place. Am I right, Aiden? "Jane winked playfully at an annoyed Andrews.

"It's Agent Sean Andrews! And no, I wouldn't know," Andrews snapped, annoyed the consultant couldn't get his name right and not liking to be made out as some kind of Casanova despite the rumours floating around the FBI offices about him.

"Oh, I see, so you are gay then?" Jane quickly answered back, knowing he was really pushing this guy's buttons.

"Oh, I am not gay, Mr Jane." Andrews smirked. "Trust me."

Jane's own smug grin dropped when he knew exactly who Andrews was picturing in his mind to prove his point on that matter. Cho shook his head at the two men pickering. "So who's this woman, then?" Cho asked, wanting to know what the consultant was thinking and hoping to defuse the feud brewing between two members of his team.

"Uh, I'm not sure." Jane shrugged quickly swiping something off the coffee table and placing it unseen by Andrews and Cho into his jacket pocket. "Old girlfriend, a one night stand maybe," Jane offered, slowly edging his way to the front door as the two agents continued to gather up the FBI equipment cases. "Well I will be in touch, fellas. I need to go take my painkillers."

Jane waved a quick farewell wanting to leave Wylie's place as soon as he could to go find out where the young lad was without any FBI interference. He needed to find out the truth and he was even more sure that Wylie knew about it now.

"Hey, where are you going? when are you going to be working the case?" Cho called out as Jane quickly disappeared from the room. Realising the wayward consultant had gone, Cho addressed Andrew's. "Call Tork and Pullman and get them to put a trace out on Wylie. His cell, credit cards, ATM transactions. I am now seriously worried about him and his state of mind."

Cho's immediate thoughts went to the shrine of Agent Vega. "We need to find him," Cho added, "and preferably before Jane does."

* * *

Wylie idly flicked through the TV channels, lying on the bed of a motel just an hour outside of Austin. The motel was a dive and hadn't been decorated since the late seventies if the décor was anything to go by but at least it was clean, at least cleaner than his place was at the moment. No one would find him out here in the Texan wilderness.

He knew running away wasn't the answer but it was the only thing he wanted to do right now to try to get his head straight. When Jane and Lisbon eventually found out the real truth there would be hell to pay and he would definitely be in the firing line and in serious trouble both personally and professionally. He should have confessed months ago but Alexander Jane had manipulated him, pressured him, even put the fear of god into him and before he realised it he was in way too deep to turn back. He should have gone to Cho and told him everything, problem was with his new high flying career, Cho very little time anymore and anything negative involving his team would have a big impact for his new boss and Wylie hadn't wanted to be the cause of that.

After searching over 75 channels and finding nothing interesting to watch Wylie looked down at his turned off cell phone. He had switched it off when Tork had started to hound him regarding the scanning machine. He didn't want to talk to his colleagues he was sure he would give something away he shouldn't off.

He wondered for a moment if he should call her, she would make his troubles disappear for a few hours. Deciding he would hold off that thought for now he grabbed his wallet from his rucksack and headed out of the motel room to the local convenience store down the street. He hadn't eaten in the past 24 hours and he needed to get something inside him. He may have to move on again in a few days and he would definitely need his strength to stay alert with Patrick Jane on his trail.


	7. Chapter 7 Shocks

**Hiiii. Yes it is another update. The weather has turned nasty so being stuck in the house most days gives me more time to update.**

 **Thanks you to all those that review and leave me messages, your support and opinions are what keep me going. Now... I am not sure how you are going to take this chapter and I am sorry to those hoping for a less controversial but where's the fun in easy. :)**

 **For those who are feeling nervous about my tale "Hold on in there we are getting over the worse I promise."**

 **Enjoy :)**

 **Disclamier: I want to own the Mentalist but sadly I don't...**

* * *

Jane paced the floor of his motel room. It was just gone after ten. Lisbon should have rung him over an hour ago. He inwardly groaned not looking forward to the long night's drive but first he needed to deal with this matter.

There was a small soft knock at the motel door pulling him out his own thoughts. Jane inhaled a breath, preparing himself to face what greeted him on the other side. He opened the door with an air of confidence about him but that quickly faltered when he saw it was, in fact, his runaway wife.

"Teresa?" Jane couldn't hide the overwhelming joy at her unexpected arrival at his motel room.

"Jane." She greeted back more coldly. Lisbon peeked over his shoulder to the empty room behind him. "May I come in?"

"Yes, of course. I thought you - well. You're back, that's the main thing."

He shut the door behind them taking another breath to compose himself and his heart rate. Turning himself around his eyes glazed over with emotion as he took in the sight of his wife for the second time since returning to Texas.

Lisbon anxiously fidgeted with her cross as she stood close to the bed. Jane noticed the dark bags under her eyes and how thin she really looked. Her hair was styled differently than two days ago. It was now styled long and straight with bangs. A style she once wore a few years ago as a team leader at the CBI. If he was completely honest he much preferred her hair with its natural waves. Although he wasn't about to share that and rock the apple cart.

Lisbon swallowed nervously, stuffing both her hands into her jeans pockets hoping that would hide her nerves. She inhaled a deep breath when Jane turned around from the door. He looked good, really good, more toned and firmer in build too. He was wearing her favourite navy suit with his light pale shirt with his sleeves rolled up to elbow and those old brown scruffy shoes. Everything about his look she had once loved. Clearly god was testing her right now.

On any other day she probably would have jumped his bones pulling him down onto the bed before he knew what hit him but things were different now. She quickly pushed those racy thoughts away especially as they were alone in a motel room together. She had to remain strong and see this through. For her own sake.

"Look, I know I should have called first but I wanted to come speak to you face to face… you are right, we do need to sort things out about us," Lisbon informed him, her voice faltering a tiny bit towards the end.

Jane's eyes narrowed as he watched his wife trying to put on a professional front and treating him like he was some sort of case or suspect rather than the man she fell in love with and married. He also noticed her left hand kept touching her jacket pocket. She obviously had something in there that was making her nervous but Jane decided to wait to see if she would bring that subject up.

"You've changed your hair," Jane said in response before Lisbon could start with her no doubt well-rehearsed speech. "It's looks nice."

He smiled warmly at her as he stuck one hand casually in his pants pocket and moved further in the room coming closer to stand near her. His compliment completely threw Lisbon off her train of thought. As per usual nothing ever goes by the book when Patrick Jane was involved.

"Uh, thanks…" Lisbon stuttered, smoothing down her new style hair subconsciously. Even after everything that had happened he still managed to have that effect on her. Turning her weak at the knees with a flash of a Patrick Jane dazzling smile and his silver lined tongue.

"How's the nose?" she asked, trying to remain unaffected by that seductive smile he was now giving her.

"Well, I won't lie. It's pretty sore." Jane smirked, letting her know he wasn't angry at her about the punching incident. He was used to getting a smack for his troubles anyway. Lisbon quickly diverted her gaze downwards out of shame. She was sorry for her very public angry outburst two days ago. "Well, yeah, I am sorry about that. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"No you are not," Jane retorted, grinning in amusement when her apology didn't sound very convincing. Lisbon's head shot back up in surprise. Seeing the playful gleam in his eyes she couldn't help but return a small grin back. For a few seconds she felt contented again and warmth flowed through her. Nearly a year apart from each other but within seconds they had slipped straight back to being them. Realising she was letting her heart rule her head she quickly reverted back to her serious persona and cut the moment short between them.

"Look, I have come here to talk to you about… about something important…and I think the best way for us to deal with this-"

"Do you want some tea?" Jane interrupted. "There is some coffee but it's not going to be up to your standards," he told her casually before disappearing into the bathroom for water.

"What?... No, I don't want any tea. Jane, please I really need to- "

The sound of the faucet being run stopped her mid flow again. He was stalling her. Typical Jane, always the one to be in charge of a situation. Eventually Jane returned placing the kettle down and switching on the power. Lisbon sighed irritably preparing to start her prepared speech once more. "Look, please Jane, this isn't going to be easy for me to say so- "

"Lisbon. Sit, please," Jane guided her towards the chairs sat by the motel window. "Yes I am aware there are many things that we need to discuss and I promise we will do, all in time. I know you have many questions and I have a lot of explaining to do over why I disappeared but right now we have something much more urgent to deal with. There is something you need to know," Jane told her warmly but with a firm edge to his tone. Thankfully his move happened all so quickly Lisbon didn't have a chance to protest.

He smiled lovingly at his wife as he bent down to become more at eye level with her. He took a few moments staring deeply into her beautiful sparkly green eyes. He instantly noticed that her pupils seemed to be fully constricted and her eyes seemed a little glazed over but put those symptoms down to the strong medication she was currently taking. All he wanted to do in that exact moment was take her in his arms and never let her go but unfortunately he knew he'd get another hard punch for his troubles if he tried.

Jane's eyes automatically glanced down to her soft cherry lips as the idea of kissing her entered his mind and it took every fibre of his being not to. Regaining control of his senses he looked back up to her eyes, focusing on what he was going to say. He decided the best way forward was to just confront this situation head on.

"This is not going to be easy for me to explain but I need you to trust me, Teresa, okay? I get that you are angry and hurting right now but I need you to push all those feelings aside for the time being."

Lisbon sighed. This visit wasn't going the way she had planned it at all. "Jane, please…"

"No Lisbon, you need to listen to me, it's really important, you need to listen to what I am about to tell you…"

"Fine." Lisbon rolled her eyes, knowing her determined husband wasn't going to let the matter drop until he said his bit. Lisbon's brow furrowed when she saw there was a flash of uncertainty in his eyes. Very rarely did Patrick Jane lack in confidence and when he did it meant something serious.

"These past ten months haven't been what you think."

Jane watched as Lisbon's frown deepened, knowing full well he wasn't explaining very well. "What I mean is, you think we have been out of contact but we haven't."

"You're not making sense, Jane."

"I spoke to Cho, he told me you think I left you." Lisbon's eyes immediately diverted away from his as they started to fill with tears, the pain of what he had done still raw. "Lisbon, look at me. We have been in contact, Teresa, but for some unexplained reason you just don't realise or remember it."

Jane felt Lisbon's shoulders tense under his hands, her defences and walls immediately starting to go up.

"I can't explain why but I swear to you Lisbon I am trying to discover the truth so we can put this all right and you can know the truth," Jane said, giving a small sigh of relief that he had finally managed to explain what was going on. "I think you may be suffering from some sort of short term memory loss, Teresa, and we may need to get you some help."

The moment the words left his mouth he realised his mistake. Lisbon's eyes widened and she angrily pushed off the chair storming to the other side of the room in anger and disbelief.

"Excuse me? Get me some help?" Lisbon pointed angrily as she began pacing the room trying so hard to contain the rage building up inside her. "You know, I was actually stupid enough to think I would get some sort of explanation to why you ran out on me but instead what I get is… this is my fault and I need help?"

"No, that's not what I meant. You are taking what I am saying wrongly." Jane stood up facing his wife, his voice rising in frustration. She had totally twisted his words and taken it the wrong way. "My point is Lisbon, I never left you. I haven't been gone from your life."

Totally ignoring what he was now saying and feeling totally stupid she had thought things would be any different she snapped, "You are unbelievable, Patrick Alexander Jane. You rock up after a year of disappearing and this is the explanation I get. Some weak tale about how we have been talking and I don't know about it," She was annoyed that she had come to his motel and not gone straight home like her head had told her she should have done.

She had secretly hoped that Jane would explain everything and then beg her for forgiveness. What she hadn't prepared for was for him laying the blame at her door.

"Do you know what?! I am tired and I am going home to bed. I need some rest," Lisbon told him, fuming. Making her way over to the exit Jane spoke behind her. "You will be needing these then I suspect?"

Lisbon spun back around, her eyes widening when she saw her sleeping tablets and anti-depressants in his hands.

"How the hell did you… have you been to _MY_ house!" Lisbon yelled snatching the pill bottles from him.

"Our house, actually," he corrected her. "Or is it someone else's now?" Jane watched as her eyes flew back up to meet his and a look of fear crossed her face. In that moment he felt like his gut had been sucker punched. Clearly Lisbon didn't want him to know about the new man in her life. The bigger answer to that question was why?

"You went back to the house?" Lisbon asked more nervously. Her heart was now racing at a thousand miles an hour. Jane had been to the house! Oh god what had he found or more to the point, who?

"Yes. I went to house. Don't panic, it was empty if that was what you were worrying about," Jane replied coldly, letting his wife knew he hadn't seen or met her new beau.

Suddenly a loud sharp knock at the motel door interrupted their heated argument. Jane stepped around Lisbon to answer it allowing them both a few seconds to control their tempers and emotions. Jane pulled open the door, instantly regretting it when he saw who was standing on the other side.

There, stood dressed in a very cheap looking brown fur coat and red high heeled stilettos was a woman. She was young, dark brunette, very attractive with long loose messy curls styled in her hair. She was wearing a bright crimson red lip gloss with a face full of over applied make up to match.

"Hey gorgeous. Well, well, you are certainly going to be a treat. All I usually get is fat over-weight ugly men looking to get a blow job."

With that the young girl pushed past Jane, entered his motel room and totally ignored a horrified Lisbon who was standing watching the scene unfold. The woman headed straight over to the bed dropping her cheap fur seductively on to the floor. Unfortunately, the young woman's actions revealed that she was wearing a very short black lacy see through dress, no bra and only a very skimpy pair of black G-string panties to cover her modesty.

"Ta-Dah. Do you like it? I made this dress from scratch myself," The young woman told the couple proudly as she did a small twirl with her hands on her hips for full effect.

"Who is she?" Lisbon spat, ignoring the young half naked woman now giving them a private fashion show. Lisbon's mind flagged up that there was something very familiar about this young woman but her head was too busy whirling with a hundred and one questions to pin point what it was exactly.

"Oh... If this is three-way then that's gonna cost extra, sweetheart," the young brunette informed them when she finally realised she wasn't the only woman in the motel room.

Lisbon's mouth dropped when her brain finally caught up. "You're a hooker?" The young woman rolled her eyes skywards at the statement.

"Yes, she is," Jane answered before the situation could get any worse than it already was. Moving closer to his wife seeing her mortified expression and seeing she was jumping to the completely wrong conclusions Jane grabbed her shoulders firmly turning Lisbon's attention fully towards him. "But she's not here for the reasons you are now thinking," he added.

"Right well clearly I am in the way here. I need to leave," Lisbon replied as she looked between her husband and the scantly dressed whore. Her breath became heavy as though she was having the starts of a panic attack. She needed to get out and find some air. She knew that Jane would never do anything like this but the fact of the matter was a hooker had turned up at his motel room and he had invited her.

"No, wait, I need you to…" Jane quickly reached out grabbing Lisbon's arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving the room.

"Let go of me…now," Lisbon snapped with real venom to her tone.

Jane let go, not wanting to receive another punch for his troubles. He could see she was going into some sort of panic attack and wondered if this was another side effect of her medication and how often she experienced them. The minute he released his grip Lisbon stormed out of his motel room not giving him or the whore a second look. Jane sighed heavily glaring at the young woman who now sat idly lounging on the bed in boredom.

"What's her problem?" The call girl asked, crawling seductively along the bed nearer to where Jane was standing and watching as his wife drive away.

"So shall we get this party started then, big boy?" The call girl reached out grabbing the buttons on Jane's pale blue shirt attempting to pull him to the bed but she was met with strong resistance.

"Please. Stop." He grabbed the girl's wrist pulling her fake manicure nail off his favorite shirt. "I called you here for information, not sex. My name is Patrick Jane. I am a consultant for the FBI."

The young woman's face froze in horror before scrambling her coat up off the floor. "I'm not a snitch. I am not snitching on Julian, I told you guys. I don't work with cops. Julian will beat me senseless if he thinks I am snitching."

"Relax, I just want to ask you some questions about one of your clients. I am not interested in this Julian. Please, it will only take a few minutes. Take a seat." With that Jane pulled out the calling card from his pocket, handing it over for the girl to see. The card had the name CANDY printed in big black bold letters on the front and a just cell phone number on the back. The woman only gave her regular clients her card so she knew the attractive FBI guy was telling the truth.

"His name is Wylie, Jason Wylie," Jane continued, shutting the motel room door to give them more privacy. He desperately wanted to go after his wife but after seeing her reaction on her memory loss he needed to find out the truth if he was ever going to convince Lisbon. Jane took a seat at the small round table motioning for the worried looking woman to do the same.

Candy eventually sat on the chair opposite, still eyeing the attractive man suspiciously. Jane remained silent as he studied the young woman. He knew instantly why Wylie was paying to see her. Despite the big long curly hair and the face full of cheap slap she was actually very attractive girl along with being the absolute spitting image of Agent Michelle Vega if you really looked beyond the drag queen look. The pieces of Wylie's strange puzzle were slowing falling in to place.

"Who?" Candy said, screwing her face up, clueless to who the guy was talking about.

"Young guy. Blond hair, IT Tech guy. Big into sci-fi." Jane pulled his cell phone out and showed the confused woman a picture of Wylie.

"Oh… you mean Jase… oh yeah, he's a cutie."

"So he is a regular client of yours, then?"

"Yeah, for about ten months now. Well I say client, he just pays me to spend time with him but we don't actually fuck! He just wants me to lay with him most nights… he says I remind him of someone he once knew." Cindy relaxed more, seeing the information the man wanted wasn't anything too serious. "It's not the weirdest client I have to be fair. One client has me put him in an adult diaper and spank him with a whip until he cries…"

Jane raised a sceptical eyebrow at that piece of information, always stunned by some people's idea of what classed for sexual and erotic pleasure. Shaking his head and disturbed by the image now floating in his mind Jane focused back on to the subject of Wylie.

"Do you know where Wylie, I mean Jason, may be at all? He has gone missing."

"Uh no," Candy replied, "but he never arranged for my regulars visits this week. I normally go three or four times a week to his place. Shame though because money is tight right now. People don't pay for sex anymore," Candy added grumpily. "Damn internet. Free porn, it's ruining my business. Might go into porn movies, there is big money to be had there and Julian reckons I could be a big star. Do you know I can swallow a-…?"

"Ok ok. Stop. I don't need to know that," Jane said interrupting the young woman and not wanting to know the rest of that sentence. It saddened him to see such a young girl caught up in this sort of sordid lifestyle. The woman couldn't have been more than twenty-one years of age at the most, only a few years older the Charlotte would have been, Jane thought to himself.

"Really? Because I could show you if you'd like." Candy smiled seductively blowing Jane a quick kiss with her crimson red lips still hoping she may get some business out of the evening.

"What's your name? Real name I mean?" Jane asked, totally ignoring her flirting.

"Rebecca. It's Rebecca. Candy's just my professional name."

Jane smiled warmly, grateful she was opening up to him more, dropping the sleazy call girl act. "Rebecca. Have you noticed any strange behaviour in Jason lately?"

"You mean apart from the fact that he makes me straighten my hair and makes me wear some awful grey pant suit and lay down on the bed with him. That sort of strange behaviour?" Cindy told Jane sarcastically, giving him an eye roll.

"Also he has all those creepy photos of some woman over his wall. You know, not once has he ever touched me, sexually. Not once. I'd say that was pretty weird. At first I was a little offended, I have a smoking hot body but now I just see it as easy money."

Jane hummed in contemplation, tapping his finger against his lips. He wasn't really surprised by what Rebecca was telling him. Wylie's obsession with Vega had clearly hit dangerous limits and if anyone could understand that Jane could.

"Rebecca. Could you please call me on this number?" Jane jotted his cell number on the back of her calling card. "If Jason calls you at all. Could you please call me straight away? I really need to find him it's really important."

"Is he okay?" The young woman asked concerned. "Is he in trouble?"

"No, no, he is not in any trouble. But we really need to find him. We are worried for his state of mind," Jane answered, genuinely concerned for the young guy's mental health. "I just need to find him. I believe he can help me solve a problem. It's really important." Jane hesitated for a few seconds glancing over to the door that Lisbon had stormed out of ten minutes before. "He could even help save my marriage in fact."

"Was that your wife?" Rebecca asked curiously as she saw the older man sadden while twiddling with his wedding ring.

"Yeah, we are currently going through a… rough patch," Jane chuckled ironically, smiling kindly at the young woman. "And she jumps to the wrong conclusions, although I will admit I do make that kind of easy for her." Jane chuckled again, not quite believing the mess he and Lisbon seemed to be in since his unexpected return home. Last week he thought everything was fine and that he would return home earlier than planned to surprise her. He had never anticipated this.

Rebecca accepted the card from Jane and pulled on her fur. "I am sure when you explain the real reason I was really here she will forgive you. Just tell her you love her and that you're sorry." The young girl stood up making her way to the exit to leave.

"Thanks Rebecca. Here take this," Jane passed a hundred-dollar bill into the young girl's hand whose eyes lit up at the sight of the free money. Seeing Rebecca out the door Jane said, "Oh, just one last thing, is this yours?"

With that Jane swung a pretty diamond pendant necklace in front of the young girl's face. Rebecca's eye's followed the sparkly expensive necklace. Once Jane was sure Rebecca was in a light trance he spoke. "Rebecca, once Wylie has called you and has been found, you are going to grab all your stuff and leave Texas for good. You are going to return to your home in Florida and you are going to seek out family who love and care about you. You are going to quit being a call girl and you are going to go back to college and become the dress maker you have always wanted to be. Do you understand me?"

Rebecca nodded, her eyes glazed over. Jane smiled, touching the woman on the shoulder and bringing her back out of the trance.

"Well I need to go. I need to go… home." Rebecca told Jane, her voice breaking as the sudden urge to return to Florida, to her grandmother, suddenly came over her.

"Bye Rebecca. Take care." Jane closed the door leaning his tired body against it. Tonight hadn't gone at all how he had hoped and it seemed to be that he had made things even worse between himself and Lisbon. He considered going over to her house but he had only just got her back to Texas, last thing he needed was her running off again. His first priority was to find Wylie and find out the real truth, and then he could focus on trying to put things right with Lisbon. He would wait until tomorrow to smooth things over. He knew deep down Lisbon wouldn't really believe he had rung a call girl for sex but her anger at taken over her again.

He lay down on the lumpy motel bed, shutting his eyes for a few minutes, the bridge of his nose now throbbing in agony. He needed to take his own medication. Tomorrow was a new day and things could only get better. Couldn't they?

* * *

Lisbon straightened her blazer waiting for the elevator doors to open to the bullpen. She had decided to get to work earlier than normal, in an attempt to show she was back to being the professional FBI agent again. Cho had managed to smooth things over with the big wigs regarding her embarrassing outburst but she recognised it would still be noted down in her personnel file for a short while and she needed to prove her worth. She had let her personal life interfere with her professional one, something in her twenty-year old career she never had let happen before.

Seeing the bullpen was still empty she felt relieved. It would give her time to get her head together before Cho and her colleagues arrived. She placed her handbag down on her desk spotting the white envelope peeking out of the top. She quickly grabbed it and stuffed it away in her top drawer. Out of sight. Out of mind.

Within an hour the bullpen had filled, with most of the other agents greeting Lisbon warmly on her return but she couldn't help notice the whispers circulating as the morning continued to go on.

"Hey Lisbon, good to have you back," Tork said as he stuffed a small donut into his mouth exiting from the break room.

"Hey Tork." Lisbon smiled as the shorter man brushed sugar icing off his tie. "I've been reading the report on this Smith case but I can't access the evidence files. Do you know what time Wylie is going to be in?" Lisbon asked, focusing back on the casefile in her hand.

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Lisbon looked up to see that her colleague's face had changed to a sombre expression.

"Wylie is missing."

"What? When?" Lisbon stood from her desk following Tork over to his. The feeling of guilt flooded her. She had been so wrapped up in her marital problems that she wasn't aware the young man was even missing.

"Last few days, Boss reckons. He has been acting weirdly and he rang in sick, but Cho and Jane are trying to find him. Pullman is on the case too. She has put a trace out on him." Tork nodded in the direction of a small blonde walking happily into the bullpen.

"Jane?"

"Yeah. He wants to find him for something. You can ask him yourself if you want." Tork nodded his head again as Jane strolled out of the elevator as if on cue. Lisbon turned to see her husband, looking dashing as ever, in a dark grey suit carrying a takeaway coffee cup in his hand.

"Et voila, my lady." Jane greeted her, handing the cup over and smiling lovingly at his wife as thought there was nothing going on between them.

"What's this?" Lisbon remarked sharply very aware of Tork and Pullman both eagerly watching waiting to see what event was going to unfold.

"It's your favourite brand of coffee. Thought you may be needing it this morning," Jane replied as Lisbon walked back to her own desk and not wanting a live audience on the next round of the Lisbon and Jane show.

"Did you buy one for Miss No Panties too?" Lisbon remarked snidely, internally angry at herself for letting her jealousy openly show.

"Actually she was wearing panties, it was a bra that she was missing," Jane quipped, trying to lighten the mood. Lisbon glared at him before grabbing her mug from her desk. "Wait. Okay I am sorry, that was in bad taste." Jane stepped in front of her blocking her path from running away. "You know I didn't call her last night for sex. You know me better than that, Teresa. Please, just let me explain." Jane held his hand out for them to move the discussion to Cho's empty office. Lisbon nodded in agreement and quickly grabbed the envelope from her desk. She could feel the sense of nausea building in the pit of her stomach but pushed the feeling aside for now and followed her husband across the bullpen.

Jane shut the door behind them but Lisbon was determined she would be in control of this discussion this time round. Getting straight to the point she asked. "So why did you call a hooker to your room. Huh?"

"To help find Wylie," Jane replied calmly.

At hearing that explanation Lisbon chuckled out loud. "Wylie? And a hooker? Oh, please."

"It's true."

"That's bull. Wylie would never pay for a whore. It's not in his nature," Lisbon snapped back.

"There is much more to it than that."

"Such as?" Lisbon asked curiously. Seeing her husband was being truthful with her she still couldn't believe Wylie would ever do such a thing.

"Agent Vega. That's why he pays the hooker. He has acquired a dangerous level of obsession with Vega and Rebecca reminds him of her."

Lisbon considered Jane's explanation as the image of the young girl from the night before popped into her head. She had looked like Agent Michelle Vega.

"Plus I think Wylie knows what is going on with you," Jane added, knowing this subject would go down like a lead balloon.

Lisbon rolled her eyes skywards. "Oh god, not this again. There is nothing going on with me, Jane. I don't have memory loss. Don't you think I would know if I had? Anyway we have other things we need to discuss… this is for you."

Lisbon held out the white envelope she had been holding since leaving the bullpen. Jane eyed the envelope suspiciously noticing the official stamp logo printed on the front.

"What is it?" he asked but not accepting the envelope.

"Well…well…" Lisbon stuttered nervously. She inhaled a deep breath, her heart thumping so hard she felt like it would burst out of her chest at any minute. Her mind was racing with fears and doubts as Jane raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to explain.

Like removing a band aid. Quick and sharp.

"It's… Divorce Papers," she told him resolutely, straightening her posture. Instantly she saw Jane's face fall and in that moment her hard stance failed her. Her whole being flooded with the feeling of guilt and heartbreak. He hadn't expected this. He hadn't felt like things were at this point between them yet. Lisbon's own heart broke when she saw the look of hurt and devastation now projecting from his sea green eyes.

The sound of Jane's cell rang out before either of them could speak.

"Jane…" he answered, his voice barely a whisper. He listened to the caller without taking his eyes of his wife once. "Ok… Ok. Thanks. What time?... Text me the address, Rebecca... Thank you."

Lisbon looked back at Jane once he ended the call. She was still holding out the envelope for him. Feeling like she needed to give him some explanation she spoke, hearing her own voice trembling.

"I got my Lawyer to draw the papers up when I was in New Mexico. You just need to read and sign them. It's quite straight forward." Again she held the envelope out for Jane but he kept his hands by his sides. Seeing the look of devastation slowly turning to anger Lisbon tried to keep her tone polite and friendly. She had known this was going to be a shock but Jane's unusual silence and intense glaring was unnerving her with each passing minute.

Eventually Jane moved to the door before he turned to face Lisbon. "We will talk about this later. I've got to go somewhere," he told her coldly before he stormed out of Cho's office.

Once alone Lisbon sighed heavily. She lowered the envelope she was still holding in her hands and perched on the edge of Cho's desk for some balance. When she had made the decision to file for divorce it had felt like it was the right thing but now she had said the words out loud and saw how Jane had reacted to them she suddenly wondered if this was truly what she wanted.

Had she gone to his motel last night in hopes they could resolve their issues and work on their marriage? Maybe?

Lisbon pondered whether or not to go after him but decided he needed some time to calm down. She just hoped that wherever Jane was going he didn't do anything stupid. Despite her wanting out of their disastrous marriage she did love him. Even if a part of her didn't want to.

* * *

 _ **Just to assure all those are currently screaming in despair right now this story is going to go in a new direction very soon and there is still hope for our duo. I Promise. Never fear. :)**_


	8. 8 Damaged

Cho entered the busy mid-morning bullpen relieved to see that he had seventy-five percent of his team back working the Austin killer case. Lisbon and Tork were sat working at their own desks searching through the victim's financial records and dating site account whilst Andrews and Pullman were discussing something by Wylie's desk. All he needed was his crazy wayward consultant back and he'd have a full team again.

It had taken a little time for Agent Pullman to retrieve the deleted history from the victim's laptop but she managed to retrieve most of the data. The history had been wiped and then deleted. Whoever the killer was, he knew his IT programming. He wasn't just your normal psychopathic killer; he was one with skills and intelligence. A very dangerous combination.

Andrews and Pullman's whispering behaviour pulled Cho's attention over to them.

"What's going on?" Cho suddenly appeared at Wylie's desk coming to stand directly in front of the anxious looking pair. Seeing their startled and uneasy glances he knew something was up. Andrews was the first to recover putting on that cool calm charm of his. "Nothing Sir. Just helping Pullman with something." Cho stared down at the nervous young agent who now looked like a scared rabbit caught in the headlights.

Cho gave a silent death stare as Pullman flustered about with some papers on the desk trying to avoid eye contact with her scary supervisor. "Yes I was stuck… with this hole punch," Pullman explained, grimacing at how poor of an excuse that was. Andrews rolled his eyes when Cho looked back at him raising a sceptical eyebrow.

"Just tell him." Andrews told the flustered girl knowing the gig was up.

"Tell me what?"

By now Lisbon and Tork had made their way over, intrigued by what was going on at Wylie's desk. Pullman moved the PC screen so Cho and the rest of the team could get a clearer view. "I found something interesting." Pullman typed swiftly over the keyboard bringing up the CCTV video footage of the bar.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Lisbon added curiously.

"Well that depends." Pullman pointed her finger to the screen which was split into eight smaller screens showing the main CCTV footage of the new bar. "See, our victim, Joanne, arrives at the bar at 21:12." One of the screens showed the young woman approaching a large doorman holding a clipboard. "The doorman lets Joanne enter. Then we see her go to the main bar, orders a drink and she waits."

All five agents watched the screen keenly. "But then the bar man talks to her and she goes up to the VIP lounge." Pullman pointed to the third little screen showing the team what was happening. "There is only one camera in the VIP lounge and it doesn't show us the whole room, just the bar and the main exit."

"So what's the problem?" Cho asked, sighing a little. After getting a major break-through with the latest victim's whereabouts and a hit on the dating site Cho should have known they would hit a road block somewhere along the way.

"There's more," Andrews added anxiously.

"What?"

"Uh, well, the thing is she doesn't leave the VIP lounge." Pullman glanced around to her team mates to see their frowning puzzled expressions.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I have watched this video footage over and over and she doesn't leave that room. Not via the main exit or any the fire exits behind the bar. She just vanishes after 11:43pm."

"That's impossible. She was found murdered in her own home. Forensics say time of death was between 1am and 3am. She had to have left the bar at some point," Lisbon added, glancing at Cho who was equally confused by this outcome.

"But she doesn't," Pullman replied shrugging. "I have searched this CCTV footage seven times and there is no sign of her in this club after 11:43pm."

"Well there has to be a glitch in the footage because she doesn't just disappear in to thin air. She had to get home some way."

"Maybe she flew," Tork added chuckling but stopped when he saw the glares his team members were giving him at his inappropriateness. Cho placed his hands on his hips trying in vain not to let his frustrations show to the team. Lisbon and Tork had managed to find the killer's dating account but unfortunately the IP address was traced to a local coffee shop downtown that had no form of CCTV or surveillance fitted. It felt like it was always seven steps forwards and ten steps back with this serial killer case. Where was Jane when you needed him?

"Right. Andrews, Tork, go back to the club and find every single exit out of that building and see if any aren't shown on the CCTV footage. Pullman, you and Lisbon look through the CCTV again and find anyone who leaves the building with any large equipment, baggage, boxes, anything that a body could be put in to."

"You think she was kidnapped?" Lisbon enquired having had the same theory herself. "But someone would have seen something."

Lisbon had read up on the forensic reports on all the victims. All five women had had sexual relations hours before their violent torturous deaths with large quantities of alcohol still in their systems. Clearly this killer was a smooth charmer with the ladies, getting his kicks before making his kill.

"I don't know Lisbon. All I do know is people don't just vanish into thin air. She left that bar with someone and somehow. We just need to work out how," Cho stated irritably at his team.

"Agent Cho." A voice pulled Cho's attention to behind him. He turned to see Agent Collins stood a few feet back waiting patiently.

"Yes Agent Collins."

"Sir, I have Patrick Jane on the line." Lisbon instinctively stepped forward when she heard Jane's name, her whole body filling with dread at what the Agent was going to say next. "He says to tell you he is at Austin General Hospital and you need to come down there ASAP."

"Is he ok?" Lisbon asked, her breathing quickening as the worst case scenario flashed through her head. What had Jane done? Was he hurt? How badly? Had he hurt someone? But who?

"Sorry ma'am, that's all he said." Agent Collins nodded sympathetically seeing the worry and despair appearing on Lisbon's face. Cho nodded in thanks before glancing at Lisbon, whose face had paled with concern and worry. "I am sure he is fine. He is well enough to make a phone call so it will be ok," Cho told her, knowing she had lived this scenario a few times with Jane over the years but knowing it never got any easier for her.

"Come on, let's head to the hospital," he added, bringing Lisbon out of her own head and back to the present. She gulped nervously following her boss across the bullpen. Cho was right. Whatever had happened, Jane was able to make a call and talk, and that is what she had to focus on until she knew more.

* * *

Cho and Lisbon hurriedly pushed their way through the doors of the ER. Both Agents surveyed the large busy ER hallway in front of them. The sight of Jane's curly blond hair greeted Lisbon's eyes as she spotted him sitting at the end of the hall. As they got closer Lisbon realised Jane was sat beside the young call girl from the night before. She took a deep breath in relief seeing that he was unharmed. It felt like the first real breath she had taken since finding out Jane was at the hospital. He wasn't hurt and he was safe.

The sound of the heavy rushing footsteps made Jane's head turn. Cho was walking towards him, closely followed by his worried looking wife. He had known his vague message would have worried her and part of him hoped she would come along proving his gut feelings that this whole divorce malarkey was just her trying to punish him somehow and not what she really wanted.

"What's going on? You okay?" Cho asked in concern as he approached the silent pair and clocking the unknown woman dressed in a very short skirt and black thigh high boots.

"I am fine. But Wylie isn't. Doctors are seeing to him now." Before Jane could explain any further a tall thin doctor exited the hospital room opposite.

"How is he doing? Is he conscious yet?" Jane enquired to the doctor as all four people stood up waiting in anticipation for the answer.

"Yes he has regained consciousness. It's nothing too serious. Just a few stitches and a nasty bump to the head. He is going to be a little hungover and we need to keep him in for twenty fours for any signs of any concussion but it's nothing a few painkillers won't cure. You will all be happy to know no real harm done," the doctor confirmed politely. "You may go in and see him once my nurse has stitched him up but he needs rest so not for too long please."

Rebecca, the young girl, sighed audibly feeling relieved that Wylie was going to be ok. She quickly became aware once the doctor had moved away that she was surrounded by FBI agents and wanted to flee the ER before any awkward questions were asked.

"What happened?"

Cho eyed the young woman beside Jane suspiciously. By the revealing style of her dress, tacky thigh high boots and the over-done face of make-up she certainly wouldn't be taking up holy orders any time soon.

"Rebecca found Wylie hiding out in a motel just outside of Austin."

"Who are you?" Cho asked sharply, curious to know this woman's connection to Wylie.

"She is friend of Wylie's," Jane answered before Rebecca could muster a response. "They met at a Comic book convention, right?" Rebecca's eyes widened in confusion but she quickly nodded in agreement seeing what the consultant was trying to do for her.

Jane glanced back to Lisbon giving her a pleading look to say nothing. Lisbon turned her head away at Jane's silent plea but she remained quiet on the subject of Rebecca. She didn't see what it would achieve to have Wylie's dirty laundry aired in the open right now.

"Rebecca called me when Wylie contacted her, she was worried about him. When I got to the Motel Wylie wasn't answering his door. The motel staff confirmed that he hadn't checked out. We found Wylie lying unconscious on the bathroom floor," Jane explained. "Looks like he had gotten drunk and slipped, hitting his head on the bath in the process. We called for an ambulance and that's how we ended up here."

At that same moment a nurse exited the treatment room informing the agents they could go in. Rebecca stepped forward but Jane held out his arm stopping her from going any further allowing Lisbon and Cho to enter the treatment room first.

"I don't think it's a good idea that you go in there, Rebecca," Jane told the young woman and turning himself to face her.

"Wh-hat? Why? I… I… just want to make sure he is ok." Rebecca's eyes shut briefly as she held back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I know you do." Jane gently rubbed the girl's left arm in comfort. "But Jason isn't coping very well at the moment, mentally I mean, and this obsession he has with you is just making him much worse. In fact, I think it's best if you don't see Jason again." The firm edge to Jane's tone let the young woman know that he wasn't asking her, he was telling her. She looked up at the blond haired man and nodded that she understood that her professional relationship and business with Wylie was over.

"Ok. I am going back home to Florida anyway." Rebecca pulled her little handbag up onto her shoulder as she headed for the ER exit. "Will you tell Jason I said goodbye and tell him thank you for always being gentleman?" Rebecca smiled sweetly. "Girls really like that."

Jane watched Rebecca disappeared from the ER before he entered the treatment room. As he shut the door behind him he saw Wylie tense trying to sit upright in the bed, his eyes quickly darting to the door for a means of escape. Jane's presence in the room was unsettling for the young man and this only confirmed his suspicion that Wylie knew something about what was going on. Jane stood quietly for a few seconds recognising Wylie's mental state was fragile so he would have to tread carefully to get the information he wanted.

"Hey Wylie, how you feeling?" Jane probed gently, slowly coming to stand beside his bedside. He chose to ignore the sharp looks Lisbon kept throwing his way. She obviously had time to realise his vague message about being at the hospital was just a ploy of sorts to get her down there and to worry her.

"Ok, I guess." Wylie shifted in the hospital bed suddenly feeling embarrassed by his actions and how he had ended up in this state. How was he going to explain all this? And how had Jane found him at the motel? He had only called Candy, so how had Jane ended up there too? And where was Candy? Part of him hoped the woman had slipped away before anyone saw her. He would hate to have to explain her part in all of this.

"What's going on?" Cho asked, keeping his voice low towards the younger Agent.

"Nothing. Just needed a break," Wylie replied unconvincingly.

"Nothing? You're hiding out in a dive motel in the back of beyond, taking expensive FBI equipment without authorisation, hanging out with hookers and there is all that stuff in your bedroom." Wylie's eyes widened in horror as Cho laid all his secrets and demons out in the open for everyone to hear. "That's not nothing, Wylie. So I will ask again, what's going on?" Cho raised an impatient eyebrow waiting for Wylie to respond.

Lisbon gently perched down on the hospital bed placing her hand over Wylie's and rubbing her thumb against his knuckles showing him no one was angry and they just cared for his welfare. "We just want to help you, Wylie." She could see the panic and fear building up in the poor guy as Cho spoke about his odd behaviour.

Wylie's eyes darted from Agent to Consultant back to Agent as his breathing quickened at the start of a panic attack.

"Wylie, it's ok." Lisbon quickly reached out, grabbing a cup off the side and pouring him some water. He grabbed the cup spilling the contents more over him and the bed than down his throat. Wylie glanced towards Jane in fear realising he had to tell them the truth and finally face the consequences of his actions.

"He… he made do it. He said he would destroy me. That he would tell Michelle's family what I had done. He told me if I said anything he would…KILL me. He said it was in the family genes to kill. He even planted marijuana in my home. He threatened to call the cops about Candy and me. He knew all this stuff and I don't know how," Wylie stuttered out frantically trying to remember everything.

"He said that this was the only way, that it was for the best, that it was for your own good," Wylie added, focusing his attention towards Lisbon directly as he spoke. "I had no choice, Lisbon. I had no choice… he made me do it." Wylie's voice finally broke as the tears started to run down his face. "You have to understand… Please forgive me." Wylie's eyes flew up to meet Jane's pleading in forgiveness.

Jane had got the confirmation he needed. Wylie was definitely involved in this mess. Now he just needed to find out in what exactly. Jane stepped forward coming nearer Wylie's bedside as he went into a full panic attack.

"Whoa, whoa, Wylie. Just breathe, in and out, in and out. Deep breaths. Feel the air filling up your lungs." Once Jane had managed to get Wylie to a calmer state he pushed for more information. "Who made you do what Jason?" Jane asked, knowing this definitely involved Lisbon's mystery live in man, he was 99% sure of it.

"Alex…"

Jane frowned at Wylie's answer. The Agent was saying the name Alex as though Jane would know who he was talking about. "Who's Alex?"

"Can I have word?" Lisbon quickly interrupted, standing up for the bed and motioning for both Cho and Jane to follow her out. All three left the treatment room leaving the young man to sip on his water and calm his breathing down. Lisbon waited until both men were out of earshot of young panicked Wylie.

Lisbon took in a deep breath knowing that it was her own turn to face her secret demons. "Ok, so I may know who he is talking about it," Lisbon said pulling anxiously at her the cross around her neck as she spoke.

"Who's Alex?" Jane asked sternly. He was preparing himself for the worst. This Alex must be the new man in her life, the man she had been sharing their home with. The man who clearly had some influence on her ridiculous divorce papers decision, no doubt.

"Alex. Alex Jane. Your father." Lisbon watched nervously as her husband's gorgeous face went through a range of different emotions all within thirty seconds, his eyes finally narrowing in absolute lividness.

"My-my… What!" Jane stuttered quietly giving off a very sinister low tone.

"Your father. He turned up about ten months ago just after you went missing and I-"

"My FATHER!" Jane yelled, running his hand down his face in disbelief at what she was telling him. A few of the nurses at the desk became aware that the FBI agents were now in conflict, making Lisbon more uncomfortable. It was bad enough Cho had to be witness to their discussion let alone total strangers. Jane took a step closer to his wife closing the gap between them and lowering his voice down again.

"Are you telling me that _YOU_ let my no good, lying, sleazy two faced con man of a father back into our lives…. and our home?"

Lisbon bit her bottom lip trying to push the feeling of immense guilt away. "It wasn't our lives, Jane. It was mine, you had left and gone back to the carnival… remember!"

Jane paced the small width of the ER corridor, his breathing becoming heavier with each step he took. His head was spinning with bad thoughts and feelings thinking about his father always brought out in him. His memory palace opened old doors he hadn't opened in years, revealing old emotions he thought he left behind him years ago.

"I am sure there is an explanation to all of this or that Wylie is just mistaken somehow. Alex…"

"Are you- are you kidding me?" Jane stopped pacing to angrily look at her, his anger near boiling point as it fully sunk in what Lisbon had actually done. "Of course there is an explanation, Teresa. My LOWLIFE OF A FATHER is the explanation."

His voice had become louder again gaining back the attention of most of the ER. "That poor kid in there is petrified, my father has clearly manipulated Wylie into believing he is some sort of killer who will ruin his life and all because you let that selfish son of bitch back in to our lives. How could you be -…"

Suddenly Jane paused on his angry rant when he saw the slight tremble in Lisbon's left hand. She wasn't in fear or danger but he could see her hand was twitching uncontrollably and she was trying to stop it by hiding it and clenching a fist behind her back. The last piece of the puzzle and the answer to what was really wrong with his wife hit Jane like a freight train. He swiftly moved towards Lisbon placing his hands firmly on either side of her face and bringing her closer to him so he could examine her face more closely.

"Jane! What the hell?!" Lisbon exclaimed when he tightened his grip on her face whilst she tried to pull away. Jane stood firm in place, searching her face and running his eyes frantically over hers.

"Oh god," he mumbled to himself, finally releasing Lisbon's face and taking a few steps backwards. "He's hypnotised you."

"What! Don't be so ridiculous." Lisbon folded her arms in absolute denial to that theory and not impressed by Jane's manhandling her in front of Cho and the ER department.

"No?" Jane retorted sharply. "Your pupils are fully constricted, you're not sleeping, headaches, loss of appetite, tremors, shakes, angry outbursts, flash backs, am I right?" Jane stared down at his wife who was now avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. "Am I right, Teresa?" he repeated again loudly when she didn't reply, making one of the doctors start to approach in concern.

Cho held his hand up to the man letting him know getting involved wasn't an option. Very rarely did Jane feel or show anger towards Lisbon but unfortunately this was one of those occasions. When he felt anger at his wife the world always felt a little off balanced somehow and like it was truly falling apart.

"Yes. Fine. Okay, sometimes I get some of those symptoms but that doesn't mean- "

"Yes it does, Teresa. Don't you get it? He has put you under hypnosis and your mind is trying to fight it."

Jane sighed heavily pacing the hallway again trying to make sense of it all. He shook his head in anger at himself for not spotting this sooner. When she had called him Patrick Alexander Jane his mind alerted him to something off but he chose to ignore it. He had never told Teresa that his middle name was Alexander, he had dropped that name years ago when he left his father behind, not even writing it down on their marriage certificate so the only way Lisbon could have known that fact was is if his father had told her.

Lisbon bit her bottom lip, refusing to think that she had been hypnotised by Alex. She would know if she had been put under and manipulated. "You put people in trances all the time and they don't have any of those symptoms," Lisbon said, desperately trying to find reasons why Jane's theory was wrong and not having the heart to believe Alex would ever do something like that to her. They had built up such a great relationship since he had been staying with her and she truly believed the old man cared for her.

"No, Teresa, I use the power of suggestion, there is big a difference. My father uses hypnosis. He manipulates, he deceives, he makes people do things they don't even know they are doing and he has done it to you." Jane began angrily pacing the ER hall, his hands placed firmly on his hips as he tried to apply some of his biofeedback to control and dampen down his anger. Last thing he needed was to say something to Lisbon that he would later regret.

"I think Jane is right," Cho added having watched the whole heated conversation unfold in front of him. He had listened to what Jane had said to him in the bar and had come away believing the consultant was actually telling the truth, despite everything that he knew to be true.

Jane spun around to face Cho suddenly remembering he was still there. Making sure that the lowlife hadn't wormed his way into Cho's life too. "Did you know about this?"

Cho shook his head. He had had no idea that Alex Jane was even in Texas or had been a part of Lisbon's life all these months. Just another indication that he had let his new career take over his world, not aware of his team members' wellbeing or their lives.

Lisbon glared at Cho in absolute disgust that he was taking Jane's side in all of this. "What! No! You are both wrong. Alex wouldn't do that, not to me. Besides I would know if I was under hypnosis."

Jane laughed mockingly at his wife, which in return received an angry glare too. "Everyone says that, Lisbon. But the real fact is they don't know. My father is one of the best at putting people under hypnosis, who do you think I learned it all from?"

Jane saw a mix of emotions flash across Lisbon's face as she tried to process everything he was saying. Deciding it was time for full confirmation on the matter Jane stormed back into Wylie's treatment room. "Wylie, what did my father actually tell you do?" he asked, no longer taking the softly softly approach with the young Agent and taking a more threatening one instead.

"Uh… uh… to redirect all Lisbon's mail at her home and the office. To divert all calls from you to a burner phone. He made me install a listening device so the calls could be monitored between you both. He said I wasn't to tell anyone otherwise…. he'd kill me."

"How did he hide this all from Lisbon?" Jane asked, his voice rising as he angrily approached the bedside.

"I don't- don't know?" Wylie flinched as Jane leaned over him, Jane's eyes darkening and his tone scarily menacing.

"Wylie! Tell me the truth!"

"Jane!" Lisbon snapped when she re-entered Wylie's room to find her husband's threatening behaviour towards the poor injured lad.

"I swear I don't know, Jane. Alex said not to ask any questions… so I didn't."

Jane stepped back seeing the scared man was telling him the truth. He sighed heavily turning to face his stunned wife. He knew he should be comforting her, letting her know everything would be ok, taking her in his arms and showing her the love she needed but he couldn't, he was far too angry and upset at everything to muster that.

What Lisbon and Wylie had done felt like a betrayal to him, to his past, his past life with Angela. They had tried so hard to escape his father and now it felt like it was all for nothing. He needed to do something; he needed to sort this mess out and fast. Jane stormed from Wylie's room not giving any of them a second glance, a plan of action forming in his head.

"Where are you going?" Lisbon called out as Jane stormed down the hall. Seeing that Jane wasn't stopping Lisbon ran after her husband. She hadn't seen him this angry in years. Last time had been their row in involving the seven Red John Suspects and he had shouted at her in front of Van Pelt for letting the team in on his findings.

"You can't leave. We are in the middle of case. A manhunt for a dangerous killer or have you forgotten that?"

Jane stopped in his tracks, a little hurt she was using a case for a reason for him to stay. Spinning on his heels he looked at Cho who was now standing in the doorway to Wylie's room watching them. It didn't matter what Cho said. In the end he was going to go and find his father either way but he'd give his new boss the chance to see the wood through the trees and make the right choice regarding this mess.

"Five days," Cho told him. "And then I want you back and working this case," he added firmly. Jane nodded in thanks before he made his way to the hospital elevators at the end of the hall. Lisbon glared at her boss for a few seconds before running after her husband once again.

"Jane, wait, Jane! Patrick. You can't just go off like this. I am sure Alex will be back in a few days and we can ask him about all this." She had only just got him back and now he wanted to run off again. That awful feeling of dread returned to the pit of her stomach and she wasn't about to stand by and let it happen all over again.

When Jane refused to say anything or acknowledge her words she grabbed hold of his arm pulling him to a halt. "Wait, we need to talk about all this. You can't just leave."

"Not now. I need to find that bastard and get you out of this trance. Everything else can wait." Jane pulled his arm from her grip. Taking his phone from his pocket he ignored that look of hurt Lisbon was giving him at his harsh cold words. "Where's my Airstream? I am going to need it," he demanded.

"Uh well, I…" Seeing Lisbon's eyes darting downwards frantically in fear Jane ended the call he hadn't yet made.

"Where is my Airstream, Teresa?" he said curiously but with a hint of annoyance.

Lisbon pulled at the edge of her jacket preparing herself for another burst of fury from her already annoyed husband. "Probably in the State of Arizona viewing the Grand Canyon with Mr and Mrs Goldberg right now," she said strongly with conviction.

"Who the hell are Mr and Mrs Goldberg?"

"A very nice sweet retired Jewish couple, who are currently fulfilling a life long dream of doing a year long trip around the States," she added as though that made the explanation for her selling his Airstream reasonable.

"You sold my Airstream?!" Jane spat, stunned by this extra piece of information. Not only had she hurt him with giving him divorce papers, she had let his awful father back into their lives and also sold his favourite prized possession along with it.

"Well… it was a giant srusting eyesore that sat out on the driveway and Mrs Melton was moaning at me and Alex said… I could get a good price..." Lisbon trailed off at the end when she realised that Alex's influence had affected this particular outcome in her life. Jane's lips thinned. He turned away from her, heading for the elevator not saying anymore on the matter.

"Jane please wait… you can't just go."

Jane jabbed the call button willing the elevator doors to open when he realised Lisbon was still hot on his heels. She finally caught up coming to stand at his side. He spoke firmly. "If you wanted to hurt me and get revenge Lisbon then well done. You have succeeded."

In that moment she could feel her heart breaking that that's what he actually thought she had done with all of this. That she would actually be that spiteful and do all those things to hurt him. "What?! No I swear I didn't. I would never do that."

"I need you to give me some space. Go back to Wylie," Jane stated coldly not looking at her and keeping his attention firmly on the metal doors in front of him. "I will be in contact in a few days."

Lisbon's eyes welled up with water. There had only been one or two times in all the years that she had known Jane that he had been this mad at her. Each time it felt like the ground had crumbled from underneath her. Each time feeling worse than the last.

The doors of the elevator finally opened and Jane stepped into the busy elevator not giving her a second glance back. The minute Lisbon was out of sight he felt like the biggest jerk, he had been cold and harsh with her but he was so angry and felt so hurt that he acted in the only way he knew how to.

First thing he was going to track down his son of a bitch father and make him pay for what he done to Lisbon. That was a given.

* * *

 _ **Thank you to all who reviewed and followed. Your comments and views are always welcome. xxx**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist sadly.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews, anon reviews comments, faves and follows to this story. I am always so touched by the support. Really I am.**_

 _ **Glad you all seem to still be enjoying this tale as much I am, that's the main thing. This chapter is M rated for some bad language.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist sadly.**_

* * *

Teresa sat at her desk staring aimlessly into space. Her mind left in a whirlwind of thoughts and different emotions. Wylie had eventually confessed all his wrong doings to her and Cho at the hospital in relation to his activities of these past few months, including taking the FBI surveillance gear without authorisation. When Vega had first died Wylie had taken her spare key. He would visit her empty apartment on occasion to feel close to her but then Vega's aunt leased the place out for rental and all of Michelle's personal belongings were boxed up and taken to her aunt's house across town for storage.

Wylie had borrowed the surveillance equipment so he could monitor the aunt' house and her family's comings and goings so he could gain access to Vega's stuff. He had only taken a few photo albums and personal trinkets for keepsakes, nothing that would be noticed unless her relatives had gone looking for them. Somehow in all this mess Alex had found out what Wylie had done, using it to blackmail the poor kid and scaring the living daylights out of him as well as making Wylie use the equipment for his own personal use.

The sound of Agent Andrews' smooth voice pulled Lisbon out of her troubled thoughts. "Hey, Teresa. You're here late. How's Wylie doing?"

"Not good." Lisbon sighed sadly. "But he will be," she added in a more upbeat tone. Now they were aware of Wylie's problems and obsession they could get him the grief counselling he clearly needed. Changing the subject to more professional matters she probed Andrews about the case hoping to distract herself from the bad day's events. "How did it go down at the club? Find anything?"

"Well, turns out there is another exit door we weren't aware off. It's at the back of the VIP lounge; it leads to an out of bounds stairwell to a private underground parking garage. The club uses it mainly for their deliveries. The garage is owned by the corporation across the road. Only senior employees of the club have an access key apparently." Andrews rubbed the bridge of his nose feeling the strain of the investigation hitting him.

Lisbon frowned, not seeing the problem or why Andrews was deflated by this new lead. "But this new lead narrows it down a list of suspects for us, doesn't it?"

"Not really because all senior staff of the club are accounted for on the CCTV until the end of the night. That means there's someone else who has an access key card and we have no idea who. I've got Tork speaking to the Software Company who own the building opposite. We need to access the CCTV cameras of the garage but they want a warrant first."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, never understanding why people or corporations would want to block a police murder investigation from proceeding further. It normally meant they were hiding something illegal somewhere.

"Tell me about it," Andrews agreed with her reaction. "Anyway, how you holding up?"

"Fine," Lisbon answered a little abruptly, still effected by what had happened between her and Jane at the hospital earlier that day. Andrews nodded softly seeing he had hit a nerve with his colleague before walking to his own desk. Lisbon's curiosity seemed to get the better of her all of a sudden and she decided she needed an outsider's point of view. "Sean, wait." Lisbon walked around her desk and over to his. "Do I seem different to you?"

"Different?" Andrews paused, turning to look his colleague. Taking her appearance in from head to toe wondering if maybe she had a new outfit on he hadn't spotted.

"Yeah, you know, less… me."

Andrews' brow crinkled deeply not sure what she was trying to get at. "Uh, well, I haven't known you that long but I can't say I have noticed any major changes." Sean shifted a little awkwardly on his feet as he felt himself being put on the spot. "I mean, you seem pretty perfect to me."

Lisbon's mouth dropped a little by his unexpected compliment. She quickly felt her cheeks flush with warmth as Andrews looked up catching her eye and holding their gaze, firmly letting his hidden feelings for her become obviously clear between them.

"Lisbon, can I have a word."

Lisbon instantly snapped her head sideways. Cho was standing a few feet away from the pair motioning her to his office. She smiled awkwardly back at Andrews before making her way towards Cho, extremely thankful for her boss's interruption. She liked Andrews and there was no denying he was very attractive but they were team members and with Jane back in her life the last thing she needed was another added complication. A few hours ago she had wanted to cut all ties on her disastrous marriage but with everything that happened at the hospital she now felt like she was being pulled in seven different directions and didn't know what she wanted anymore.

Entering Cho's office she shut the door behind her. Their drive back from the hospital a few hours earlier had been a very quiet one, with both agents clearly distracted. Lisbon had been consumed by all the things Alex had done and her nasty fight with her husband. She had assumed Cho's quietness was due to Wylie's mental health and the state he'd gotten himself into. It was clear the young agent's situation had affected the Supervisory Agent. "Everything ok Cho?"

"I just spoke to Jane." Cho sat back in his leather chair getting straight to the point and not sugar coating anything.

Lisbon couldn't help but show the anger and disappointment on her face. She had tried ringing Jane all day since he'd left and he hadn't answered his phone to her once. She had also tried ringing Alex several times too but his phone had been turned off, making Jane's theory more and more likely despite her not wanting to believe any of it. "Oh, right."

"He has flown down to Arizona."

"Arizona? Why?"

"That's where his old carnie circuit is currently. He is checking out a few leads down there."

"Right," Lisbon added again, the hurt and annoyance still audible in her tone. Cho knew more about her husband's investigation than she did and she couldn't help but feel put out by this.

"Jane suggested you have a full medical examination. See if they can help shed some more light on your current condition."

"Oh did he now!" Lisbon shook her head, irritated by his orders. Jane had only been back in her life a week and he was already running the show as per usual.

"Yes he did and I think it's a good idea," Cho replied point blankly, readying himself for Lisbon's response to that remark.

"You're not serious?"

"Yes. They may be able to confirm whether or not you're under hypnosis."

Lisbon gasped a little by her friend's stance on the matter. "Cho, this is madness. I am perfectly okay. Ask Andrews. Ask anyone. See… look." Lisbon stood up from the chair doing a little twirl to emphasis her point.

"Andrews fancies you. He wouldn't see anything wrong even if you weren't yourself. I thought you being withdrawn and your odd behaviour these last few months was due to Jane leaving but I think he may be right, there is much more to this business than meets the eye. Wylie has confirmed that for us already," Cho added, pretty convinced that Jane's theory on his wife's condition was correct. If what this Alex Jane had done to Wylie was anything to go by, then there was every chance he would do the same to Lisbon without her realising. She had clearly let her guard down with the man and he had taken advantage of that.

"I can't believe you are taking Jane's side in all this," Lisbon retorted, sitting back down in the chair for some support, extremely hurt that Cho seemed to be pro Jane all of a sudden. She had always had Cho covering her back and suddenly it felt like she had lost his support.

Cho leaned forward seeing how upset his friend was becoming. He wanted to assure her that he was still there for her. "I am not taking sides Lisbon but you have to admit that after everything Wylie has confessed and what Alex made him do is pretty disturbing behaviour. Why would he do that if it didn't involve you somehow?"

"Alex wouldn't hurt me. I know he wouldn't," Lisbon said firmly knowing exactly what Cho and Jane were thinking had happened between her and her father in law.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I want you to go get checked out anyway just be to be sure. I have informed the medical team you are on your way down for a physical."

"Thanks," she mumbled sarcastically, not impressed that she was being railroaded into this unnecessary procedure. If she wasn't due her annual medical in a month's time she would have outright refused. But at least this way maybe a medical professional could confirm the truth and Cho and Jane would finally drop this whole hypnosis theory once and for all.

Lisbon rose from the chair and began heading to the exit. "Did Jane say anything else?" She part hoped he had asked after her during their chat.

"No," Cho answered, his tone softening before returning to read his forms. Lisbon exited the office sad that Jane was still angry at her. Even with some time and space between them his anger clearly hadn't thawed yet. Maybe taking his father in hadn't been the most sensible idea but at that time she had been in a bad place mentally and having Alex by her side it felt like a part of Jane was still with her. Although after hearing what Alex had done to poor Wylie she had to admit that this was a side of the man she hadn't gotten to know. It upset her that like her husband, there was a meaner darker side to Alex that could rear its ugly head.

* * *

The sound of the desk phone ringing alerted Cho there was an internal call coming through. Cho snapped up the receiver. "Agent Cho here."

"Agent Cho. It's Doctor Marsh from the FBI medical department. We spoke earlier regarding Agent Lisbon's medical review," the female doctor said confidently. He had called down requesting an immediate physical review of his team member and requested that Dr Marsh call him directly after with the results.

"Yes, thank you for calling back. So, what's the verdict?" Cho asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Like I explained before Agent Cho I am no expect in this type of field. Hypnosis is a very complex thing to actually diagnose. I couldn't formally say that yes she has definitely been put under but it is a possibility yes. I do think Agent Lisbon needs to be taken out of the field for the time being."

Cho shifted forward in his chair spotting Agent Lisbon exiting the elevator and returning to her desk in the bullpen.

"Her results show her reactions and memory tests are not at the standard required for FBI field work. She also confirmed in her medical history that she was on some strong anti-depressants for a short period and this could also be the reason for her slow responses if the substance is still in her blood system. I also did a full physical examination like you requested and I can confirm that Agent Lisbon is perfectly healthy and there are no signs of any physical or sexual abuse. She is perfectly healthy in that respect."

Cho sat back against the leather again letting out a sigh of relief at doctor's diagnosis on Lisbon's physical condition. He hadn't been looking forward to informing Jane if that outcome had been different. His own guilt over what had happened to Lisbon was starting to hit him hard. He felt like he had let both Wylie and Lisbon down and failing as a good boss and friend.

"My professional opinion is that with Agent Lisbon responses being in a dangerous situation could really mean life and death. My recommendation is to take her out the field for now. I also recommend that she go see her own practitioner, they may be able to recommend someone who could diagnose the hypnosis side of things and get her back to herself again."

"Okay, thanks Dr Marsh. I appreciate you taking the time to speak to me." Cho replaced the receiver puffing out his cheeks. His relationship with Lisbon already felt strained but he had a responsibility to his team and to his long-time friend to do the right thing.

* * *

"Okay, thanks for letting me know, Cho. I appreciate it. I will call you when I know something." Jane ended the call placing his cell in his pants pocket.

"What did he say?" Pete Barsocky asked in concern having watched the blond haired man run a hand down his face as the call ended. They were sitting in Pete's trailer around the small table and seating area. Jane had caught up with the circuit earlier that evening immediately putting the word out amongst the carnie folk that he was looking for his father. At any price.

Alex Jane had made many enemies over the years and that was going to work in Jane's favour. Someone would know something about the old scoundrel and be fully willing to line their pockets for the information too.

"She's ok, doctors say there's no physical harm," Jane told him as he took a long sip of his ice cold beer. The Arizona night air was very humid and hot but Pete's small trailer felt cool giving some light relief from the suffocating heat outside.

"Thank god for that. Well at least that's one less thing to worry about." The larger man mimicked Jane's action downing some of his own beer. "So why do you think Alex did it?"

Jane paused at Pete's words. "Honestly Pete, I have no idea what that man was doing … but whatever it is it can't be anything good." Jane grimaced a little at the thought of his rotten father having made his wife so vulnerable and hating the fact he hadn't been there to protect her. "I am thinking it may be something to do with her job, accessing information or getting her to abuse her power as a FBI agent somehow."

Pete gave a disgusted grunt in agreement. "Yep, that sounds like Alex Jane."

Pete got up from the table throwing his empty beer bottle in the trash can and grabbing himself another bottle from the fridge. Twisting off the bottle cap with his large hand Pete took in a deep breath knowing his next question was going to rock the boat. "And what do you plan to do with Alex when you do find him Paddy?" Pete raised a questionable eyebrow as he sat down again knowing exactly what Patrick Jane was capable of when he was focused and seeking vengeance.

Jane was affected by the knowing look Pete was aiming his way. He took another sip of his beer remaining silent on the matter. "What would you do if it was your wife?" he eventually retorted back.

Pete sighed. "Look, Paddy, I understand how you're feeling and I would want to kill the bastard myself if he had done that to Sam but this time around it's different, you have so much more in your life to lose and I know you don't want for that to happen."

Jane darted his eyes away knowing deep down Pete was right but also knowing he had to see this through. His father couldn't get away with what he had done. "The bastard can't just get away with it, Pete," Jane added, feeling the anger building up inside him.

"And what about Teresa, huh?"

"I am doing this all for Teresa." Jane snapped abruptly standing up. He heavily threw his empty beer bottle in the trash can.

"Are you? Or are you doing this for you…again?"

Jane's eyes narrowed in fury at the larger man before he looked away again. They knew each other well enough to know they would never actually come to blows. Besides Pete was three times the size and would knock him through to next Tuesday if they ever did.

Pete lowered his tone, not wanting to fall out. "All I am saying is think about this before you do anything stupid. You won't get a third get out of jail free card Paddy and you will end up losing her forever." Pete stood up from the table patting Jane firmly on the shoulder letting him know he was on his side. "It's getting late and the evening session will be closing soon. I am gonna head to check on Daisy. You ok staying in one of the storage trailer's out the back?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Staying in one of them beats sharing with you and your lethal bodily gases," Jane quipped now his anger had subsided somewhat. "How Sam lived with you is beyond me," Jane grinned at the older man as he made his way out of the trailer into the humidity and heat once more.

Pete chuckled in agreement. "Yeah, that woman was an angel. Although she did make me sleep in the elephant pen a few times especially around Thanksgiving time. I'd had a lot of beer, turkey and stuffing."

Jane let out a hefty laugh for the first time for days, with the image of Pete being banished to sleep with the elephant due to his bad flatulence. It actually felt good to laugh again. The last few days had been a mix of different emotions. He had spent most of the day being consumed by anger towards his wife's stupid actions, so to let out a genuine laugh felt like a great release.

An hour or so later Pete approached his trailer retiring for the night to see Patrick Jane exiting through the door. "All closed up?" Jane asked, stepping down from the trailer steps.

"Yeah finally, I thought you'd be sound asleep by now. It's gone 1am," Pete said, curious to where Jane was off to at this time of night. "Where are you off to so late?" he asked Jane as he began walking away.

"I am gonna pay Doug a visit. Doug is like the Twitter of the all the carnie circuits. That man knows your business before you do," Jane replied, wiping the sweat off his brow in the high humidity. "I am going to go see if he knows anything about where my father may be."

As Jane disappeared in to the darkness Pete raised his eyebrows and chuckled under his breath. "Good luck with that," knowing full well the two men had a firm dislike for each other, never having solved their differences all these years ago when a 13-year-old Patrick had broken Doug's brand new go kart on his eleventh birthday.

Minutes later Jane arrived in front of the dark grubby looking trailer banging his fist hard against the metal door. The carnival had long closed down for the evening and only a few people were still pottering around the site getting ready to bed down for the night. Jane waited patiently for the occupant to answer. As Jane went to leave believing Doug wasn't there his attention was drawn to the faint sound of a woman seductively giggling coming from inside the trailer. Jane rolled his eyes and banged twice as hard on the door again calling out Doug's name loudly.

After a few moments later the door of the trailer finally swung open to reveal a half-naked Doug, looking particularly pissed off. Doug was a couple of years younger than Jane with dark brown hair, rugged looks and a tanned physique from putting up the Carnival tents most women regularly swooned over.

"What the h-… Jane! What the fuck do you want! Didn't you leave last week?"

"I need to talk to you Doug. It's important," Jane said sternly.

Doug glanced down to his half naked body letting Jane know this wasn't the right time for talking. "Uh, can't you see I am busy here?" Doug replied keeping his voice low and motioning to inside the trailer where he had company of the female variety. Jane rolled his eyes, pushing past the half dressed man and inside of the man's home.

"Hey! You can't just go in there!"

Jane entered the grubby trailer quickly followed by a disgruntled Doug. There were pizza boxes and beer bottles scattered on every surface and with the humid air the small box smelt equally as disgusting as it looked. Patrick turned to look further into the trailer to find there was a busty blonde lying seductively on the bed in just her skimpy underwear. "Hi, I am Patrick… and you are?"

"Mandy." The embarrassed woman quickly pulled the bedsheet up around her body trying in vain to cover herself as the strange blond man made his way over to the bed area and shook her hand.

"Hello Mandy. You should probably know that Doug here is a bit of ladies' man," Jane said playfully. "Let me guess he told you some sob story about how his wife left him and broke his heart and you're the first woman he has wanted to physically move on with. Am I right?" Jane grinned when the blonde woman nodded, her stunned face blinked blankly back at him.

"Get OUT!" Doug shouted as Jane continued ruining is chances of getting his leg over for the evening.

"See the thing is Mandy, it's all a lie, Doug's never even been married. He is a player, always has been. He pulls that chat up line a lot getting a new girl in his bed most nights when he isn't drinking or gambling his life away. Knowing Doug like I do, he probably had another woman here only last night."

"Right Get OUT! RIGHT NOW!" Doug yelled flinging open the trailer door seeing the sexy young woman's face changing in disgust with every passing minute.

"Plus if I know Doug, which unfortunately I do," Jane added grinning even wider seeing his trick to get rid of the woman was working. "I bet he hasn't even changed the bed sheets from last night's fun activities. And ah yes! Here's a used condom wrapper too…"

"No! That's a lie!" Doug exclaimed watching as Jane picked some sort of silver wrapping off from the floor. "I didn't use any contraception last night..."

Realising his error Doug groaned in frustration when the half-naked girl jumped off the bed picking her clothes angrily off the trailer floor. She pushed past Jane before slapping Doug hard across the face and fleeing from the trailer. "Hang on…. Wait! Don't go."

"Get lost, you jerk!"

Doug watched as his night of fun disappeared half-dressed running into the darkness. Slowly closing the trailer door, he turned to see a smug grinning Jane looking back at him with amusement.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I told you I needed to talk to you. It's about my father. And if anyone knows where he is it will be you." With that Jane exited the trailer not being able to take the smell of old pizza, stale beer and dirty sex any longer. "And put some pants on will you," Jane added frowning in disgust at the man's crown jewels flashing him.

A few minutes later Doug exited his trailer only dressed in jeans joining Jane who was sitting on the garden furniture outside. "I don't know where your dad is," Doug said exhaustingly, flopping down into one of the chairs.

Jane studied the man's face for a second. "You're lying, Doug. Look, put your dislike for me aside for a minute. This is really important. I need to find Alex and sharp." Jane's voice was serious showing Doug that despite their differences all these years he needed his help to find him.

"What do you want with the old sod? I thought all you ever wanted to do was get away from him."

"That's my business." Jane turned his head away not wanting to expose his private details and life.

Doug gave a small smirk when he saw a desperate looking Patrick Jane sat beside him. He was enjoying having the upper hand for once. He had never liked the blond haired smart ass so to have the power to fleece a Jane felt good. "Well…what's it worth?"

"$2000 dollars," Jane said without hesitation knowing that value of money to a serious gambler like Doug was like hitting the jackpot.

"Make it $5000 and I will tell you what I do know," Doug said, raising the stakes.

Jane retuned his gaze at Doug. "Fine, but if you are wasting my time Doug you won't see a dime and I will make sure you think you're impotent for the rest of your days." Jane held out his hand so they could shake on the deal.

"Word is your old man's looking for a quick buck. He wants out the country; apparently he is in some sort of trouble," Doug advised pulling his half opened cigarette packet out of the pocket of his jeans.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Last I heard he was leaving old Bill's place and making his way down to Vegas."

"Hmmmm," Jane hummed pondering this information. Nevada was only a four-hour drive from where the circuit was currently based and he would be able to drive there easily. Jane tapped his finger against his lips as a new idea suddenly popped into his head. "You say Alex needs money?" Jane asked again.

Doug nodded in agreement lighting up a cigarette. "Yeah and quick too from what I have been told."

A big smile crept across Jane's face. "Thanks Doug, you have just given me a great idea on how to catch that old bastard." Jane stood up from the creaky old garden chair winking playfully at the disgruntled man sat next to him. Doug watched as his old nemesis walked swiftly away and into the darkness disappearing completely from sight.

"Hey Jane! What about my money? And you owe me one woman!... you prick!"

* * *

The next morning Jane woke up to the sound of loud banging on the trailer door. The banging got louder and harder as the seconds passed. Jane groaned, throwing his legs off the side of the bed and squeezing himself between the large storage boxes piled up on the right hand side of the small bedroom area.

"Hang on, I am coming." This was clearly payback for what he had done to Doug last night. Jane rubbed his eyes as they slowly adjusted to the bright sunlight streaming into through the trailer windows. As he swung open the door he was roughly shoved aside by an angry and very determined Teresa Lisbon.

Jane shut the trailer door, a little shocked to see his wife standing in front of him. She looked much better than he had seen her the day before at the hospital. She was wearing her tight blue denim jeans and sleeveless white shirt and had tied her new long hair back in a pony tail. "What are you doing here Teresa?" Jane said exhaustingly, as she stormed angrily into his trailer.

"I flew down this morning. That fat bald guy with the big nose told to me where to find you." Lisbon glanced around the cluttered trailer filled with boxes not sure if this was someone's trailer home or some sort of storage unit.

"You need to go back to Austin," Jane sighed, reopening the trailer door indicating for her to leave but she remained rooted to the spot.

"No I don't. Thanks to you I have been put on paid leave. Cho took me out the field and off the case. He ordered me to take time off," Lisbon said angrily, folding her arms across her chest.

Realising his wife wasn't leaving he pulled the door shut and grabbed the kettle to make some tea. It was still early so the heat hadn't gotten too bad yet. "Well, I think that sounds like a great plan," Jane added, switching the kettle on to make them both some tea.

"No! No it's not Jane," Lisbon replied sharply not seeing it in the same light he was. "Thanks to you I have been prodded and poked for no reason and now I've lost my job."

Jane rolled his eyes at her slight over dramatics. She loved her job and being made to take time off felt like an alien concept for her. "You haven't lost you job, Teresa. You are just taking a break, that's all."

"Same thing!" she snapped.

The kettle clicked off letting Jane know it was fully boiled. He poured the water into two cups. He hoped some camomile tea would calm her and make her think more rationally about this. "You need to go back to Austin and rest up." He handed her a cup and motioned for her to sit down at the table area.

"No, I am not going anywhere," Lisbon said firmly, sitting down at the table. "If I can't be at work then I will be here and we will track down your father together."

Jane slid along the bench sitting down opposite her. "That's not an option. You are not staying. You need to go home and I will call you in a few days." Jane sipped on his tea as though that was the last say on the matter. It was clear in his demeanour he was still pissed at her despite his soft tone and approach. She could see it in his eyes.

"Right, you'll ring?" she stated. "Because so far I haven't heard a damn thing from you. Not even a text."

"There is nothing to tell," Jane shrugged, becoming increasing annoyed by her stubbornness and her refusal to leave. She couldn't be here; he wouldn't let her be a part of this anymore. His evil father had tainted her life enough and it was his job to sort it out.

"Liar." She spat. She knew her husband well enough now to know when he was lying to her.

"I am not lying," Jane sighed heavily, "when I know something on my father I will tell you."

Lisbon sighed too, deciding to call his bluff. "Well, if you don't know anything then you won't mind me staying for a bit then will you? We can find him together and bring him in."

Jane sipped his tea eyeing his wife over the rim of his cup remaining quiet on that particular subject. He eventually left the table placing his cup in the sink. Lisbon's eyes darted down to his backside. In his silk satin pyjamas with the clammy heat they clung slickly to his ass and she couldn't help but admire his derrière for a few seconds without his knowledge.

"I am going to go for a shower, then I am going to make you some breakfast and then you are going to catch a flight back to Austin," he stated sternly before disappearing into the small shower unit, not giving her a chance to answer him back.

Lisbon shook her head angrily at her arrogant husband. She looked around the old trailer taking in all the boxes piled up everywhere. She pulled a red feather boa from one and put it around her neck playfully glancing at her reflection in the small mirror on the wall. As she walked to the sink to tip her tea away, the sight of Pete and Daisy across in the distance enjoying the morning sun caught her eye out of the window. With the sound of the shower now running she decided she make her way over to the large man and find out what he knew on Alex Jane's whereabouts.

"Hey, Pete," Lisbon said as she approached the large man outside of the animal's pen. The large man spun round to the sound of a familiar voice he recognised to see Pepper standing a few feet away.

"Pepper! What the hell are you doing here, darling?" Pete automatically picked Lisbon up in a big bear hug of a welcome. "It's so good to see you. Does Paddy know you are here?"

"Yeah, he knows," she told him pulling her shirt back into place having been dislodged from Pete's tight hug. "And he is still grumpy with me by the looks of it. Hey Daisy." Lisbon moved slowly to the big beast patting her lightly on the trunk.

"How are you feeling?" Pete asked sympathetically watching the tiny brunette and the huge elephant bonding again.

"I am fine, Pete." Lisbon tilted her head knowing what he was getting at. "How are you? Where's Sam?" she added looking around at the mid morning carnival site for the small woman normally at Pete's side.

Lisbon saw the big smile drop slightly from the man's face. "Oh, you don't know, do you?" he added softly, realising further implications of Alex Jane's hypnosis.

"Know what?" Lisbon answered softly, moving a step closer to Pete seeing the man's mood change by her question.

"Sam died ten months ago in a car crash, Pepper," Pete bent down to pick up an apple for Daisy to eat not wanting to show the woman his upset.

"Oh my god. Pete, I am so sorry. I had no idea." Lisbon felt the bile build up in the back of her throat. She had no idea that Sam had been killed and it suddenly hit her just what Jane had been saying about her memory and the hypnosis must be true. Pete moved forward gently hugging Lisbon this time. He saw the stunned shock take over the young woman and knew she need some comfort. "Yeah me too, sweetheart."

They stood in that soft embrace for a few minutes allowing Lisbon to process everything Pete had told her. Eventually Pete pulled back. "Hey, why don't I take you around my carnival before Mr Grumpy over there comes out and steals you away?"

"Yeah I'd really like that," Lisbon replied smiling up at the larger man thinking how far they had come after all these years.

Several hours later Pete and Lisbon arrived back at Daisy the Elephant's pen. They entered Daisy's tent taking shelter from the scorching Arizona midday sun.

"Thanks Pete, I really enjoyed the tour of carnival and meeting the people in your life, even if most did look at me like I had two heads and a tail," Lisbon smirked.

"Hey, don't worry about them idiots. They just guessed you're a cop. But you're family now so you are welcome here anytime, you hear me?"

The sound of a man's voice calling Pete's name floated through the air outside of the tent. Pete rolled his eyes. "Give me two minutes will ya, Pepper. I will be right back. They don't know their ass from their elbows around here." Lisbon watched as Pete left the cool tented area leaving her and Daisy alone together. She patted Daisy gently watching the giant animal munch away on a big barrel of apples.

"You know she doesn't normally like strangers."

Lisbon spun round to find a rugged looking man in his early 40's leaning on one of the tent's posts watching her intently. He was dark haired, had a strong jawline with chestnut colour eyes, wearing worn out dark denim jeans with a dirty old chequered shirt flowing open due to the intense heat. It hadn't passed her eye that the guy also had one of the best tanned six pack she'd ever seen. One you only saw on a life guard calendar or on a Chippendales poster. The man clearly knew it too if his confident seductive smile towards her was anything to go by.

"Well good job I am not a stranger then isn't it?" Lisbon remarked turning back to give Daisy another apple.

"Hi, I am Doug and you are…?" The man approached her wiping his oil stained hands on a rag and shaking her hand.

"I am Teresa."

"What a beauiful name." With that Doug smoothly lifted her hand placing a kiss to the back of it. Lisbon rolled her eyes at the guy's brazenness, knowing when she was being hit on.

"Thank you." She quickly removed her hand from the slimy stranger's and moved to the other side of the elephant creating some space between her and the half dressed man watching her like she was the last cake in the cake shop.

"So what brings you here Teresa?" Doug asked seductively. "I mean you're not part of the circuit because I would definitely remember you if you were and you're not a visitor at the carnival as you don't seem the type… so that tells me you either you're here visiting someone or you're a cop… or both."

"I am here visiting Patrick Jane," she told him proudly not phased that he had guessed her profession. He hadn't been first person to do it that day.

It was Doug's turn to eye roll letting out a sarcastic disapproving huff at her answer. "Trust me darling you can do better than the likes of Boy wonder." Doug paused, giving a real hard leering look at Lisbon raking his eyes down her body and making her shift uncomfortably. "But I have to say I am glad to see Paddy is finally getting over that wife of his. It's about time."

Lisbon stepped out from hiding behind Daisy not caring anymore about this guy's failed attempts to chat her up. "Wife?"

"Yeah Angela, she was killed tragically years ago. Paddy's has held a torch for her all this time but I am sure a beautiful woman like you can pull him out of that certain… hole." Doug grinned at the brunette. Lisbon watched the clueless fool closely, seeing he wasn't lying to her or messing with what he was telling her. "Angela? You think Patrick Jane's wife is still Angela?"

Doug bit into one of Daisy's apples not seeing that his words had upset the attractive brunette. "Yeah, why? Who else would that dickhead be married to?" he chuckled, confused by her question. Lisbon felt like she had been sucker punched in the gut.

"Excuse me, I have to be somewhere." Lisbon quickly left the elephant pen practically running past the stranger and out of the tent "Hey Gorgeous! Where are you going?" Doug called out, a little baffled by the woman's quick and sudden departure, wondering what he had said wrong.

Lisbon left the tent, the bright sun hitting her face temporarily blinding her for a few seconds. As she spotted Jane's trailer she turned the other way walking as fast as she could. She needed to go for a walk and get her head together. First the news of Sam, the truth of hypnosis and now this. This guy Doug clearly knew Patrick Jane but it was clear for some reason Patrick hadn't told his other carnie friends he had gotten remarried.

Was he ashamed of her? Of them? Of their marriage? All she knew was that deep down she felt devastated that she was actually one of Patrick Jane's little secrets.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi All. Sorry I haven't updated this lately but had a few personal things going on in my private life and I have just seem to have lost my writing flow because of it. I started this chapter weeks ago but today I tweaked it and added a few new things. I am hoping it will get me back in the flow of writing again. Thanks for the new follows, faves and reviews. It always appreciated.**

 **Anyway I can't take all credit for this Chapter, a friend of mine helped me in certain areas so thank you my dear. (You will always be FF Q Of M in my eyes ;)**

 **This chapter is M rated, you have been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.**

* * *

Jane entered the trailer, allowing the door to slam behind him. He had been searching the carnival up and down for hours, and they hadn't found hide nor hair of Lisbon since Pete had left her alone in the elephant pen. It was late afternoon, and the temperature was spiking, with no breeze to cool it down. Jane felt like he was on the verge of panicking; she had seemingly vanished into thin air, a feat not so easily done when it came to Patrick Jane's awareness of where to find Teresa Lisbon.

He sighed deeply and turned to fetch some tea bags from one of the small cupboards to make himself a cup of tea before he headed back out to search for her and try her on her cell phone for the umpteenth time. She hadn't gone too far from the circuit as her hire vehicle was still parked by his trailer but she didn't know the local area and thoughts of her being hurt or in serious trouble quickly flooded his mind. Just as he was plugging in the electric kettle he heard the trailer door open behind him. He turned around, startled, and found Lisbon standing there, her hair now loose around her shoulders, damp with sweat and her white shirt sticking to her skin as if it was thin paper and he could see the lacy bra she was wearing underneath.

"Where have you been?" he asked her panicked, his voice rising, "I've had half the carnie out looking for you. I looked—"

"I went for a walk," she cut him off in a sharp tone, not elaborating anymore on where she had been and shutting the trailer door behind her.

Jane took a breath deciding getting at angry at her wasn't the answer. "Well, you're here now, that's the main thing, I have— "

"Are you ashamed of me?"

"What?" Jane spun back around to look at her, baffled and confused by her random and unexpected question. "No. Why would you ask me something like that?"

Lisbon raised a sceptical eyebrow at him not fully convinced. "Really? Because your Carnie friend Doug doesn't even know I am your wife!"

He couldn't help but give a slight eye roll to her explanation. "Doug? Dougie Linden?" he asked firmly making sure they were on the same page. "First of all, that man isn't my friend, Teresa. He's a walking STD, he has more muscle than he does brain. Secondly, people here who I know, trust, and matter to me know exactly who you are."

Jane dropped the teabag into the trash can, annoyed that she would think that of him. "But to be honest I am surprised you would care so much, Lisbon, considering two days ago you issued me with divorce papers." He snapped snidely realising he was effected and deeply hurt by her actions two days ago in Texas.

Before Lisbon could respond to his snide dig the door of Jane's trailer opened revealing Pete in the doorway. He popped his head in and saw the couple were in some sort of stand-off.

"Uh not interrupting anything, am I?" Pete asked awkwardly feeling the tension in the air between the couple. "Just wanted to make sure you both were okay...and that Pepper was safe."

Lisbon ended their angry staring contest and walked back towards the exit. "I've got some calls to make," she said, exiting the trailer. "He is all yours."

Jane sighed heavily when Lisbon was out of earshot leaving him and Pete behind her. "What was that all about?" Pete asked, stepping up into the trailer upon seeing that their marriage was taking a really good beating with everything that was currently going on.

"I don't even know anymore." Jane flopped heavily down at the table running a hand through his damp locks, not even sure himself what was happening between them.

"You need to give her a break, Paddy. I know you're upset about your father but she made a mistake, she trusted the wrong person. She's only human and this isn't all her fault," Pete told him seeing the younger man fighting with his emotions.

"No. Your right it's not her fault. It's mine," Jane said with a hint of sadness to his tone. He sat looking out the trailer window watching his wife talking on her cell.

"What's really going on here, Paddy?" Pete enquired softly. He knew Patrick Jane well enough to know when something was upsetting the man and this ran a lot deeper than his no good father. Jane remained silent still watching his wife before turning to face the man who knew him best.

Jane took a large intake of breath preparing himself to confess to his oldest friend. "Before I got ill last year, I was trying so hard to be the husband she deserved. To give her the life and home she wanted. I so wanted to be the man she always believed in me to be…" Jane dipped his head in shame, breaking eye contact with Pete.

"But I–I realise now I just wasn't ready." Eventually Jane drew his eyes up, seeing Pete's expression was a little shocked by this admission. Pete and Sam had always assumed his recent break down had been related to his late family and the whole ordeal with Red John, not his new life and future with Teresa.

"I desperately wanted to be that man for her." Jane finally released a breath running a hand down his face as he admitted the truth. "When I went on the run for a year I moved around from place to place and before I knew it I was back in the U.S. working for the FBI. I never truly dealt with my grief at losing Angie and Charlotte, the ten years after I just focused on my revenge. Then just as I was starting to get my head together and start to deal with things Marcus Pike shows up on the scene." Jane rolled his eyes remembering that man and awkward period of time. "In the end I had to step up or I would have lost her forever. And I couldn't lose her. I couldn't. So I told her how I really felt about her and she stayed."

Pete watched Jane as he stared off out the window at his wife. A small smile crept across Jane's face as he was clearly remembering that exact moment he was talking about. His smile faded and he turned back to look at the older man sitting opposite him.

"But… as much as I love Teresa, the guilt of moving on silently ate me up inside. I tried so hard to ignore it, bury those feelings, pretend they weren't there or happening. Every day it felt like I was betraying my family somehow. Eventually everything became too much and nearly forgetting Charlotte's birthday, I just shut down…"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Pete asked, confused by why he hadn't been honest about it all from the start of their new found relationship.

Jane didn't answer straight away. He fiddled with a beer bottle lid that sat on the table top, his eyes focused on the metal as he spun it between his fingers before eventually opening up again. "Because she was so happy… and I didn't want to be the one to destroy that for her. I desperately wanted to move on. For her. For us. I thought if I just did it everything would be okay, so I asked her to marry me and put all my efforts into building us a new home so I wouldn't have to deal or face anything else. I thought over time the guilt would fade and disappear."

"And they didn't," Pete added, finally understanding. Jane nodded his head in agreement without looking up. "She would have understood if you told her you just needed some more time," Pete told him softly. "Pepper would have waited for you, Patrick. She loves you, any fool can see that."

Jane frowned, contemplating Pete's words. "Maybe. But I had made her wait over a decade already." The doubt and uncertainty in Jane's voice let Pete know that despite the confident know-it-all he always tried to portray to others, when it came to his wife he wasn't that guy at all. "Pike proved she wasn't willing to wait anymore."

"You need to talk to her Paddy and explain all this, the poor woman doesn't have a clue what way is upright now. Her whole world has been turned on its head and she has no idea who to trust right now. She needs you, Patrick."

Jane sighed, knowing what Pete was telling him was true and that he needed to tell her the truth. "I know. And I will. I just need to get her out of this hypnotic trance first. Once I know she is safe within her own mind and back to herself again I will talk to her about it."

"How do you feel about your marriage and relationship now?" Pete motioned his head towards Teresa who was outside the trailer pacing a small patch of grass and still chatting away on the phone.

"Good. Great, in fact. Coming back here was key. The carnival, you, Sam, just having time to get my head around everything that had happened to me really helped me deal with things. Dealing with Sam's death made me face up to my own grief. Helping you overcome your grief made me do to the same for Angela and Charlotte finally. Now I feel like my new life is just beginning and I want to spend the rest of my days with that very stubborn woman out there… if she'll let me."

Both Pete and Jane let out a chuckle at his admission and assessment of his wife. "Pepper is quite a woman, even if she is a cop," Pete said affectionately.

Jane beamed a big smile across to the older man before glancing over towards his wife again. "Yeah, she sure is," he said proudly, knowing he was the luckiest man alive to have her in his life. He always had been.

* * *

 _ ***M rated**_

Lisbon spent the rest of the evening helping with Daisy the elephant. She couldn't get a flight out of Arizona yet so she had no choice but to stay, which Jane wasn't best pleased about. He wanted her back home in Texas and safe. He wanted her as far away from his no good father as she could be. Jane needed to pick up some more supplies if she was staying for a few days and he had to run some errands leaving Lisbon in Pete's company. His plan to catch his father was taking more time to sort out than he expected making him arrive back at the carnival just after midnight. The trailer was in darkness when he arrived back and he guessed that Lisbon had gone to bed for the night.

He reached out and flicked on the light as he entered the trailer, illuminating the main kitchen and all its boxes in fluorescents. The stifling hot temperature had dropped as the evening drew in but the humidity was still suffocating. Deciding he needed to get out of his suit and waistcoat he headed for the small shower room deciding a cold shower was just what his overheated body needed.

Ten minutes later Jane exited the shower unit wrapped in only a white towel around his waist. He ran his hand through his wet hair pushing the curly locks back off his face. His body was still damp from the shower but the night air felt cool and soothing against his skin. He turned himself to fetch a cool mineral water from the fridge. He was just shutting the refrigerator door when he heard the shutter of the bedroom open behind him. He turned around, startled, and found Lisbon standing there, her hair loose around her shoulders, damp with sweat and her football shirt sticking to her skin. He could see a darkening intensity in her eyes as she took in his wet half naked body.

Before he could speak, she closed the gap between them, pressing a hand to either side of his head and bringing her soft lips to his, kissing all the words he had wanted to say out of his mouth; instead, he felt sticky skin, warm lips and her tongue skim his bottom lip, enticing his mouth open wider so she could slip her tongue inside, pressing his face harder to hers.

"Where have you been?" she asked worriedly in a break between their kissing.

"I had to take care of some things, nothing for you to worry about," he cut her off in a whisper not elaborating anymore on where he had been for hours. Instinctively his hands came up to encircle her waist, pulling her flush to him. He felt her lift his face between her hands once again. She leaned her mouth even with his ear and whispered softly.

"I'm sorry for worrying you earlier," she whispered, planting a kiss on his jawline before pulling back to look at his face. He could taste the faint tang of whiskey and beer laced on her tongue, although she didn't seem drunk.

That subtle action and the fact she was safely back in his arms unhinged him; he brought a hand up to the back of her neck, under her damp, perspired hair, and met his lips with hers, pushing his rough, cracked ones against hers, pressing his tongue out to zip along her upper lip, asking her without words to open her mouth for him. He groaned against her mouth when she obliged and he slipped his tongue in. His hands slipped from her neck, falling down slowly, allowing his fingertips to trace the entire length of her back, as his fingers travelled to her butt, squeezing both cheeks gently; enough to elicit a small murmur from her.

"You don't have anything to apologise for," he added breaking their kiss for a few seconds before starting it back up again in desire.

Her hands fell from his face, sliding down Jane's wet toned sides, passing over his ribs. She found the top of the damp soft towel, following it around to the front as she arched herself from him just enough to slip her hand between them. Feeling him underneath the cotton fabric and her warm palm, she squeezed the length of him through the towel material as she stroked him, earning her a deep grunt. She felt him throb under her touch as she slipped her other hand through the slit of the towel. She gently took his damp hardened shaft in her palm making his breath hitch as her hand took a firm grip on him.

His hips pressed hard against hers again, making it difficult for her to get a real rhythm going. Before she could move, she felt his hands move to her wrists, stilling her. Her eyes popped open as he withdrew his tongue from her mouth and looked down between them, something clicking in Jane's head as he could still feel her fingertips starting to stroke him, knowing he shouldn't have let it go this far.

"Teresa," he whispered, pushing her hand back from under his towel. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Immediately, she stepped back from him, her face reflecting shame and rejection at his words and actions. She pulled her hands away from his, biting her lip and shaking her head slightly. He was looking at her with what she took to be pity, and that didn't help at all, either. She backed up and shook her head harder at him.

"I—I'm sorry," she stated, "I thought you wanted me."

Before he had a chance to explain for slowing things she practically ran through to the bedroom slamming shut the sliding door behind her and letting him know their conversation was well and truly over. Jane sighed in anguish, running his hand down his face and applying his biofeedback skills in an attempt to tamper down his now throbbing erection tenting through the towel. If Jane believed in a higher source or in karma, he would say this was pay back for what he had done to Doug the night before.

Deciding he had done the right thing and the fact he a busy day ahead of him trying to find his no good father and putting his plan into action, he decided not to follow her. They both needed to get some rest and another fight was the last thing their broken marriage needed. He moved a few boxes off the pull out couch, making up his bed for the night. He would allow Teresa the small bedroom and hopefully smooth things out with her before he got her on a plane home.

* * *

Around 3am, his mind still racing from the earlier fallout and having had no sleep whatsoever, Jane sat up from his hot sticky makeshift bed, the humid air cooling finally but not enough for it to feel comfortable. He pulled his sweaty pyjama top over his head and flung it back on the couch bed. Making his way to the fridge he pulled out a chilled bottle of water gulping half of it in one go and wiping the drips from his lips. He stared at the closed shutter door separating him and his wife in the darkness. He had been battling with his conscience all night about what happened between them earlier. He shut his eyes gripping the kitchen work top knowing he might come to regret his next action.

He slid the bedroom shutter open. The creaking sound waking her from her slumber, Lisbon sat up on one elbow rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the grey darkness surrounding them. She could see Jane standing silently in the door way watching her.

"Jane? You okay?" she asked, worried by his silence.

The next thing she knew he swiftly climbed across the bed crawling up and over her body. He captured her lips taking her fully by surprise slowly pushing her back down onto the mattress, his hand trailing the outside of her thigh and making its way under her football shirt and upwards to her hip. As their kiss deepened he gently nudged her legs apart with his knee, placing his hardening lower body firmly against her core.

"Of course I want you, I always have," he whispered, pulling back and breaking their heated kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers while panting heavily as his body responded to being against hers. "I just don't want to take advantage when you are in this state," he added breathlessly.

Lisbon brought her hands up to cup his face pressing her lips softly against his. "But I want you to take advantage," she said seductively before inserting her tongue into his mouth coaxing him to open up again.

The kiss became fast and heated again as her hands dropped to his hips slowly pushing down his satin blue pyjamas bottoms over his hips. They took a second both to catch their breaths staring deeply into each other's eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice trembling a little as his heart thumped rapidly against his chest, scared she was going to break if they took this moment any further.

Pushing a clammy stray curl off his forehead she smiled sweetly seeing how scared he was. "I have never been more sure of anything in my life," she told him confidently, sitting up a little, pulling her football top over her head and throwing it away, now completely naked underneath him.

"I love you," he whispered, his body exploding with sensation as she positioned him at her core and her body slowly drank him in. He began a steady firm rhythm, her hips coming up to meet his with every thrust. It had been over a year since he had made to love to his wife and his body was responding to that. If he didn't start applying some biofeedback and slowing the pace down, he knew he would be ejaculating with the next thrust given.

Feeling him slowing and his hesitance, she pulled his head level with hers. "Why are you stopping?" she asked more sharply than she had wanted it to sound. "I want this, Patrick. I want you. I know what I am doing," she added firmly, afraid he was rejecting her again.

Jane let out a small ironic laugh. "I know, my love," he said breathlessly, "but I just need a few seconds to compose myself… otherwise this… will all be over before it even begins." Lisbon's eyes widened before letting out a hefty chuckle and finally catching on to what was holding her husband back from moving this intimacy further along.

"Well, I am so glad you are finding this funny," he grimaced as he slowly pulled out before slowly thrusting back inside her again. She couldn't help but giggle at his predicament feeling extremely flattered she still was able to have this effect on her husband. She gently kissed his face and lips, smiling up at him in the darkness.

"Okay. Let's slow this down a little," Lisbon said more sympathetically, smiling lovingly at her husband.

Jane smiled back at her and kissed her lips quickly, trying to apply some more biofeedback as they slowed their love making down.

They spent the rest of the night making love to one another, learning to reconnect physically after a year of being separated, their soft moans filling the cluttered trailer around them. With their warm sweaty bodies tangled up they eventually fell asleep in each other's arms, neither one of them wanting to let the other go.

Things were far from perfect between them but at least they were finally on the right path to rebuild their broken marriage.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi all. Thanks so much for the all the lovely reviews on my last chapter. I really wasn't very happy with it so it was so lovely to get such great response to it. Thank you. It means a lot to know people are still reading even if I haven't updated in a while.**

 **As its the 1 year anniversary of beloved Mr And Mrs Jane today & also the anniversary of the last ever episode of my favourite beloved show The Mentalist here is an update from me. Although I will confess today has been a day of mixed emotions which has probably effected my chapter a little. ;) be warned.**

 **Thanks again for reading my little story. I love this fandom and it warms me to know that even after a year of the show ending that there are still people who keep the TM alive reading & writing Fanfic.**

* * *

Lisbon was gently awoken from her slumber by a bright ray of sunshine streaming through the old frayed curtains of the trailer bedroom. "Jane?" she called, her voice croaking slightly from tiredness. His side of the bed was empty but she could hear a rustling noise coming from the other side of the shutter door. She smiled warmly as the memories of their wonderful first night together since being apart flooded back to her. Wrapping the crumpled white bed sheet around her slim body, she carefully slid back the shutter and made her way through the trailer. "Hey, Mr Jane, are you-"

Her words were sharply cut off when she saw an unexpected face slouched at the table area.

"Well, well, well, every time we meet, Princess, it seems to just keep getting better and better." Doug Linden greeted her with a large smirk on his face as he took a large sip from his half-empty beer bottle. He raked his eyes down over her thinly veiled body wrapped in a bedsheet.

Lisbon managed to keep her composure, swiftly wrapping more of the sheet around her chest, not wanting to give this guy a free peep show. "Where's Patrick?" she enquired, glancing out of the window and hoping to spot her husband somewhere nearby.

Doug shrugged. "I don't know, Princess. I am waiting for him to come back." He grinned mischievously at seeing her discomfort and vulnerability of being completely naked with no weapon to protect herself with. Not wanting to show she was at a disadvantage or intimidated, Lisbon moved to the trailer door letting the warm humidity into the cool trailer. "I will tell Jane you popped by," she told him firmly, letting her guest know it was his time to leave.

"No worries, Princess, I can wait, I have no-where to be right now." Doug stood up, grabbing a cold beer from Jane's fridge, before flopping down again and swinging his heavy dusty worn boots back on the edge of the table top. "Besides, it gives us some time to get to know each other a bit better after you ran out on me yesterday."

Knowing this jackass wasn't about to leave any time soon, Lisbon shut the trailer door, mumbling sarcastically under her breath, "Won't that be fun?" She added more clearly, "Excuse me, I am going to get dressed."

"So, good night, was it?" Doug said with more of a cheeky glint to his eye. Lisbon remained silent, sensing this was going to lead somewhere regardless if she was participating or not. "Because from what I heard at 4am this morning it seemed like it was a very good night! For you both!" he stated, playfully wiggling his eyebrows at Lisbon and letting her know he knew exactly what their night had been.

Lisbon blinked back, horrified. "Oh my god. Were you spying on us?" she said as she realised what he was implying.

Doug chuckled loudly, highly amused by her theory. "Don't flatter yourself, Princess," he told her, sipping on the beer. "I was stumbling back to my trailer. Came through the woods over there." Doug pointed his bottle towards the area in the foreground. "Anyway, I heard something moving inside and came to check it out. We get a lot of kids breaking into our stock on our travels. Terrible crime waves in these parts," he added, grinning, knowing she was law enforcement.

Lisbon rolled her eyes at his attempt to unnerve her about being a cop. "I can imagine. You should report that," she retorted sarcastically.

Doug smiled warmly, growing to like this woman's sass and sharp tongue the more time he spent time with her. "As I got closer I heard the distinctive sound of a man and woman moaning in pleasure, and trust me, sweetheart, I know _that_ type of moan anywhere." He winked at her before raking his eyes down her body, lingering on her cleavage peeking out of the top of the sheet. Lisbon pulled the sheet higher, and not enjoying feeling like a piece of meat she pointed to the door. " _GET OUT!"_

"Oh calm down. I didn't see anything." Doug chuckled, seeing the flash of relief cross the woman's face. "It was too dark," he added. Lisbon rolled her eyes as Doug continued on regardless. "I was going to interrupt but hey, Jane needs to get laid in my opinion so I was gentlemanly enough to leave. Although I will admit hearing your sweet moans of ecstasy, Princess, was a huge turn on."

Doug's grin widened when he spotted the look of absolute disgust that appeared on the small cop's face at his last remark. It was fun winding up this little firecracker up and using his shock tactics in which to do it.

"You're a disgusting pig," Lisbon spat, quickly storming back into the bedroom unit and sliding the shutter shut firmly behind her.

Doug erupted into laughter, highly amused he had finally got a reaction from the little firecracker. "Oh come on, Princess, I am only messing with ya," he called out, still laughing, "I didn't hear that much… I swear."

* * *

Ten minutes later Lisbon exited the small bedroom, fully dressed and presentable. It was clearly going to be another scorching hot and humid day but she needed to feel covered and back in control. She wore her dark black tight jeans and her favourite emerald green shirt. Doug had already guessed she was cop so she might as well dress like one.

"Beer?" Doug offered as she exited the bedroom, having helped himself to another bottle from the fridge. He sat slouched at the table looking out of the trailer window watching the early morning risers go about the start of their day.

"No thanks, I don't tend to drink alcohol at-…" Lisbon paused, glancing down at her cell phone checking the time. "-9:07am in the morning," she added, shaking her head in dismay at how early it was for drinking alcohol. "Look, I am not sure where Patrick is or how long he will be, so is there something you want or need?" She motioned her head towards the storage boxes piled up in the corner hoping she could get rid of this jackass.

"Nope. Nothing you can help me with, Princess."

Lisbon exhaled a deep breath in an attempt to calm her anger and not to physically hurt this man for calling her princess for the tenth time that morning. "Not unless you know where the big game is being held tonight?" Doug added, sipping on his beer.

"Game?" She raised an eyebrow curiously at the half drunk man unaware of what he was talking about.

"Yeah, the annual poker tournament has been brought forward early and word is Patrick Jane is the man in the know to where the new location is. And I want to know," Doug told her seriously, finally dropping the whole sleazebag act with her.

"What annual tournament?" She made sure her tone was kept neutral, trying to not act like a prying a cop. Thankfully the two and half bottles of beer Doug had consumed were dulling his senses and he was quite happy to spill all to her.

"Every year there is a big carnie poker tournament, can go on for days sometimes. Changes location every year so we don't get busted by the pigs. Illegal gambling on unlicensed property and all that bullshit… but word is they have had to bring this year's game forward due to the place being raided for drugs."

"Classy location," Lisbon retorted sarcastically, taking a sip of the hot tea she had just made herself and watching Doug closely.

"It's $2000 dollars to enter but according to Joe at Johnson's circuit the pay-out is big this year. $100,000 jackpot! And I definitely want in." Doug's eyes lit up like a child at Christmas at the thought of that amount of money lining his pockets.

"Well, I don't know anything about it and Jane hasn't mentioned anything." Lisbon was pretty sure she hadn't heard him or Pete mention anything about it since her arriving.

The sound of Doug's belly rumbling distracted him for a second. "Hmmm, well I need to get me some food," he told her, getting up and swaying his way over to the trailer exit. "As it's clear I am not getting any breakfast around here." Doug smirked when Lisbon folded her arms across her chest sighing loudly at his attempt to get her to cook him some breakfast. "Tell Jane I will come back later."

"I'll do that."

She had no idea where Jane was or what time he was coming back. She couldn't lie that it hurt a little to wake up alone after their first night together after a year apart. Her mind was now starting to worry he was up to something or had gotten into trouble. Doug's slurred voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey, don't be offended, Princess, I am sure it's nothing personal."

"What isn't?" Lisbon asked dryly, already dreading why she even asked.

"Boy Wonder doing the old 'morning flit' on you." Doug rolled his eyes skyward when the brunette gave him a blank clueless look to his meaning. "You know, where the guy disappears after getting his dick wet and then lays low until you finally get the message and leave. But my trailer is the small one with the red mustang parked outside, so if you ever want a real night of passion you know where to find me. And I promise I wouldn't leave you in bed alone, Princess."

"Get out now!" Lisbon spat, having had enough of the drunken fool's come ons for one morning. "What a creep," she added when she heard Doug's drunken laughter slowly disappearing.

Moving to the small sink, she poured her half drank tea down the drain, thinking about what Doug had told her. Cho had only given them five days to find Alex and she found it odd Jane was organising poker games with friends when he could be spending his time trying to find his father and trying to get her out of this hypnosis.

Just as she was about to go look for her missing husband the trailer door opened and up stepped Jane carrying some fresh groceries bags in his arms. When he saw Lisbon was up and dressed, a beaming smile quickly appeared on his face. He looked at her like she was the best thing he had ever seen. She returned the smile, feeling overwhelmingly happy that he was looking at her with pure love once more. The last three days had been really hard, Jane had been so angry at her and she wasn't used to having him be that way towards her. She never wanted to feel that again.

"Hello, sleepy head," he greeted her cheerfully, placing the goods on the kitchen counter before moving to place a long good morning kiss to her lips. All thoughts of a drunk Doug and Alex Jane slipped from her mind as Jane deepened their morning kiss, gently wrapping his hands around her petite waist and pulling her body flush against him.

"I was hoping you'd still be asleep and I would be able to bring you breakfast in bed," he said seductively, finally breaking the sensuous kiss, secretly hoping she might allow them to go back to bed for the rest of the day.

Lisbon moaned into his mouth as his hands gently slipped to squeeze the cheeks of her ass, pressing his hips and crotch firmly against her. "That would have been nice but you had company." Lisbon pulled away a little, motioning towards the two empty beer bottles that sat on the table. "Doug," she added.

With one mention of that man's name it killed the intimate moment between them. Jane let out a sigh of irritation as Lisbon slowly moved out of his arms to sit down at the table. He didn't like the thought of his wife being alone with Doug, knowing full well his unexpected visit wouldn't have been a very nice one for her. "Did he try it on?" he added, already knowing the answer to that question.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Lisbon couldn't help but smirk as Jane began pouting out of jealousy. "He popped by to see where the big poker game was being held this year. Apparently it's happening tonight?" Lisbon added casually, watching as her husband unpacked the groceries and noticing his body tense for a moment at her mention of the secret poker game.

"Huh," Jane responded, composing himself before continuing to put the goods away. "Did he?" he added nonchalantly.

"So, do you know anything about it?"

"No. Why would I?" Jane answered confidently, finally turning to face his wife. Lisbon eyed her husband, knowing he was putting on a very good act of pretending not to know but she could sense he wasn't telling her the truth.

"Well, according to Cheesy Casanova, it's been brought forward early this year and you're the man in the know." Lisbon raised a challenging eyebrow at her husband. Unfortunately, Patrick Jane was a master at not being thrown and he showed no signs of being affected by Lisbon's probing questions.

Jane shrugged casually. "Well, Doug has it wrong, my dear, because tonight I am not playing poker, I am taking my beautiful wife out for a romantic meal so we can talk." Jane took a few steps closer to the table leaning down and placing a soft kiss to his wife's lips. As he pulled back he noticed a frown appearing in her brow.

"Talk?"

"Yes, talk." He chuckled going back to kitchen and lighting the gas under the small cooker ring. "It's what couples do, Teresa. I know this lovely little restaurant not far from here. It's a bit quirky but it does the best veal chop I have ever tasted. I have booked us a table tonight for 8pm. Just thought we could do with some time away from here, give us a chance to talk properly without any interruptions from Pete or 10ft elephants to take care of. We have a lot of things we need to discuss." Jane leaned up against the counter giving her a loving smile. "Like starting with does my wife still want to divorce me? Or did last night change anything?"

Lisbon instantly blushed pink turning her head away at his light teasing, now feeling a little foolish about her impulsiveness to get a divorce. She eventually looked back at Jane, returning the smile. "It may have," she replied, letting him know that she had definitely changed her mind on that front.

"Good." Jane clapped his hands together in overwhelming joy at that particular announcement. He had never really believed she would have gone through with the divorce but it felt good to hear her admit it. Jane turned on the gas rings, focusing on making them breakfast.

"What about your father? How are we going to find him?" Lisbon asked, suddenly turning the conversation back to more serious matters. "I mean, what if we don't find Alex I could be in this hypnotic sta- "

Jane sharply spun back, interrupting her. "I will find him Teresa. I promise you. I will get you back your memories. You won't be in this hypnotic state forever."

"How? Alex could be anywhere by now."

"I have a few leads, something will come through," Jane told her coolly, making her aware he was still fully focused on that side of things.

"Like what?" she questioned doubtfully. "Alex could be anywhere, Jane. He could be in Florida, Canada, or Costa Rica by now for all we know." Lisbon heard a small sigh of frustration escape from his lips but he softened his tone. "I have put the word out. My father will surface eventually. His slimy ass always does, Teresa."

"And that's it?" Lisbon raised her eyebrows sceptically that his word of mouth among the carnie folk would get Alex to show up and face the consequences of his actions. "I think we need to call in Cho and get some official FBI help with this search, Jane. Alex could be anywhere by now. I think-"

Before she could finish her sentence on that particular thought Jane cut her off with a firmer edge to his voice. "I said trust me, Teresa. Okay. I will sort this." He released a breath, softening his tone once more when he heard how abrupt he sounded. "Please Teresa, just trust me. Okay. So… eggs for breakfast?" he added as though that was the end of the conversation. "Eggs?" he repeated when she sat looking a little stunned by his dismissiveness.

"Yeah, that would be great." She was confused by his sudden laid back attitude towards them finding his father. Two days ago Jane seemed like a man on a mission now he seemed to be a man enjoying a vacation. Whilst Jane focused on making his famous scrambled eggs, Lisbon checked her cell. She had spoken to Van Pelt yesterday and asked her to put a trace out on Alexander Jane. Anything to let them know where the older man was. Grace had agreed to call her the minute anything flagged up electronically but unfortunately she hadn't heard from her since. She knew it was a long shot but she wanted to get this mess cleared up and her memories of the last year back.

She knew deep down in her gut that Jane was up to something but it was quite clear he wasn't sharing that with her. She decided she would need to keep a close eye on her husband from now on, watching him like a hawk and making sure he didn't do anything stupid. Starting with not allowing him to go off anymore without her. Any 'errands' he needed to do she would make sure she would be going with him.

* * *

Later that night Teresa stepped out of the trailer dressed in her knee length white and blue summer patterned dress. She wasn't sure why she had brought it with her but she was very glad she had. Otherwise she would be going to dinner in her work clothes. The creaking of the trailer door made Jane spin around. He had been waiting out by the SUV enjoying the beautiful Arizona sunset whilst she got ready for dinner. He was dressed in her favourite navy blue suit and waistcoat with a pale blue shirt and shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows looking smartly dressed and gorgeously handsome with it too.

Jane took a few moments to take in his wife as she made her way to the SUV. She looked amazing, a little thinner than the last time she had worn that outfit he noticed, but still incredibly beautiful especially with her dark wavy hair loose around her shoulders. He stepped forward, taking her small hand in his. She awkwardly played with the thin strap of her dress as Jane roamed his eyes down her dress all the way down to her pretty sandals. He slowly lifted his other hand to her face, caressing her cheekbone before kissing her lips gently.

"You look amazing," he whispered.

"So do you."

"Come on, we don't want to be late. I'll drive." Jane moved around the front of the SUV, climbing into the driver's seat. An hour later they arrived in a small town called Frampton. They continued to drive around the outskirts to what felt like the middle of nowhere before finally coming across was a quirky looking restaurant called Vinnie's. It was a large ground floor building, painted bright red and white with several cars parked out in front. Entering the low level restaurant, Lisbon and Jane were greeted by the sight of small romantic tables made for two, with flickering red candles trying to create the sense of a romantic setting.

"Romantic, huh?" Jane whispered close to her ear, giving her Goosebumps on the back of her neck by how up close and personal he was.

"Hmmm, or a fire hazard," she quipped, trying to calm her heart rate down and noticing that one knocked over candle could possibly set the whole place alight. Jane smirked at her reply, realising just how much he had missed her sharp tongue and fast wit these past months and how extremely grateful he was to have her back by his side. They were greeted by an older grey haired gentleman who seemed to recognise Jane. Lisbon guessed he was Vinnie by the over friendly welcome they both received.

They were shown by a young waitress to an outside courtyard where there were more couples already alfresco dining. The courtyard had a large olive tree placed in the middle as the main focal point. The tree was decorated from head to toe in twinkling white fairy lights, creating a beautiful romantic ambiance to the yard. With the warm Arizona night air and the star filled sky sparkling above, it was perfect for a romantic evening.

The waitress showed them to their table and they browsed the menu. Jane asked the waitress to bring them a bottle of champagne before going back to studying his menu.

"Champagne? Bit fancy isn't it?"

"Well, I think we both deserve a little luxury and I feel we have something to celebrate, don't we?" Jane smiled widely at his wife. Lisbon smiled lovingly back nodding in agreement. Whilst she wasn't entirely comfortable with them going out for a romantic dinner when they were meant to be in Arizona searching for leads for his father, she had come to accept that tracking down Alex Jane was going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack. There was also the big possibility that they wouldn't ever find the old man despite what Jane believed. They would soon have to return to Texas and try and deal with her memory loss professionally. She decided it was time to just try and enjoy their last few days with Pete and the carnival whilst they were still here.

The young waitress brought a bucket of champagne over along with two champagne flutes. Jane poured them both a glass "To us," he toasted, clinking their glasses together. The rest of the night was perfect. They enjoyed a beautiful meal together, both keeping their conversation light, mainly sticking to topics about recent FBI cases, Pete, Daisy the elephant, the carnival, the team, and Cho and his lack of a love life.

"So are we going to talk?" Lisbon said eventually once they finished their meal and the night was drawing to an end. "About us? Your break down?" she added, finally pulling the large pink elephant into the room they had both been ignoring all night. Jane exhaled a slightly ragged breath, sitting back in his chair. He had told her earlier that day that they needed to talk and so he should have expected it to be his wife to face it head on. Slowly taking Lisbon's hands in his, he spoke. "You're right, we do need to talk about my break down but… but before we do, I have a little something for you," he told her, his eyes lighting up with excitement as he diverted the conversation away from that dark topic. "Wait right here, I've it left it in the car."

Lisbon smiled excitably as Jane quickly jumped up from his seat, pulling the car keys out his pants pocket. Before he walked away he swiftly turned, taking Lisbon's head in his hands and bending down to capture her lips, not caring who was witness to his very public display of affection. He broke the heated kiss when they both needed to catch their breaths and he could feel Lisbon becoming extremely awkward as the other diners were now witness to his open display of desire. "I love you, Teresa, more than anything in this world, just remember that," he whispered, pecking her lips quickly.

Lisbon frowned in confusion by his words and the unexpected passionate kiss. She watched as Jane snaked his way through the other tables and couples before quickly retreating inside the restaurant to get his surprise. Once he was gone from her sight she couldn't help but smile like a woman hopelessly in love, still able to feel and taste him tingling on her lips. This was the first time she had felt completely happy in over a year and it was all down to the man she loved being back in her life.

* * *

Alex Jane pushed open the door of the noisy smoke filled bar, surveying the busy room for any signs of danger. He saw there were several people from the different carnie circuits huddled around in groups near the busy bar. He had taken a big risk in coming but he had no choice. His trip to Vegas had been bust so far due to him being banned from most of the big casinos over the years. He only had $2000 in his back pocket and he wasn't going to get very far on that with a broken leg and being on the run. He needed lots of money and this was a poker game where he was guaranteed to get some.

A small part of him had wondered if the tournament was some sort of ruse and that he'd turn up to discover a room full of FEDS but thankfully he had been totally wrong. Not one Cop or FED in sight.

Alex Jane had won the annual carnie poker tournament Jackpot a few times over the years. Last time had been 1997 and he came away with $25,000 dollars lining his back pocket. The poker jackpot had grown substantially over the years and he needed big money fast. He'd win some at this tournament for sure. Alex approached the busy bar and ordered himself a whiskey. He recognised a few guys he knew from the old circuit days and nodded to them. He was sure to clean up tonight if this was his competition. This time tomorrow he'd be sunning himself down in sunny Mexico, his revengeful son and his new wife a very distant memory.

* * *

Lisbon exhaled another irritated breath, glancing down at her watch. Seven minutes. Seven minutes Jane had been gone. Seven minutes she had been sitting alone at the table. Seven minutes she had been receiving sympathetic and pity glances by the other loved up couples surrounding her. She gulped some more of her champagne, deciding whether or not to get up and go look for him. She wondered if maybe Jane had been caught chatting with the owner Vinnie or if he was showing the chef how to cook scrambled eggs the special Patrick Jane way. Hadn't been the first time he'd disappeared on her whilst they had been out for dinner to give the local chef his own master class. Downing the champagne she realised she had drank at least five glasses since they had arrived and throughout their meal, with Jane constantly topping up her glass at every chance he got. She needed to slow down before she became too tipsy. Suddenly out of nowhere a young waiter appeared at her table.

"Excuse me, ma'am, your husband asked me to bring you this." The young man eagerly placed a delicious plate of Tiramisu desert with two large lumps of chocolate ice cream in front of her. Both dishes were her favourite deserts and she looked beyond the waiter, expecting to see Jane returning. "Also Mr Jane also told me to give you this." With that, the young waiter pulled out a white envelope handing it proudly out for her. "Oh… and he also said to tell you that your ride back to the carnival will be here shortly." The young man smiled warmly at his customer, proud of himself for getting Mr Jane's several instructions correct.

"Ride back?" Lisbon snatched the white envelope out of the young man's hands, scaring him a little by her abruptness. The young waiter swallowed nervously as he watched Mrs Jane frantically rip the envelope open.

"That son of a bitch!" Lisbon snapped loudly as she read Jane's note, not bothered by the startled look of her waiter or the other couples sat nearby by the use of her bad language. _"He's left!"_

 _ **I'll make it up to you**_

 _ **Your ride back to carnival will be here soon.**_

 _ **Love you**_

 _ **J**_

x


	12. Chapter 12

**Hiii. Ok so this is the big Jane showdown chapter. (Finally, I hear you say. :) I hope you like where I am taking it.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews and new followers too. I know some of you expressed your dislike of my plot twist in the last chapter and I can understand why, yes you right, Lisbon probably wouldn't be stupid and fall that trick a second time around but I needed some drama build up, Just having Jane popping out for milk and disappearing on his wife didn't create an exciting scene, so yes I used an old classic. ;)**

 **Thank you for reading my story as always. I know I haven't replied back to all your reviews individually but I can assure that it means a lot to me and I thank you all so much for taking the time to comment. You're the best.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't anything TM related. :/**

* * *

Lisbon anxiously tapped her foot against the wooden flooring beneath her. She had made her way out of the restaurant, waiting impatiently on the veranda for her ride to show up. Placing her cell to her ear she huffed when it connected to Jane's voicemail for a sixth time.

She heard her ride home arrive before she actually saw it. Out of the darkness, Pete's noisy battered old red pick-up truck drove slowly and pulled up outside the restaurant, releasing a loud bang from its rusting exhaust and startling a young couple leaving in the process. Pete climbed out of the vehicle looking like a small child about to be reprimanded. He moved around to the passenger side door and opened it, sheepishly glancing at Pepper who was giving him a serious a death glare from a few feet away.

"Sorry I am late, this old thing wouldn't start," Pete told her guiltily, hoping she wasn't too livid by the events of the evening. "Nice evening? You look lovely in that dress, by the way." Lisbon angrily stepped off the veranda, not interested in making small talk with the man about her style of dress. "Where is he, Pete? Where's he gone?"

"Honestly? I don't know." He shrugged. Lisbon sighed heavily and was irritated, believing Pete was covering for her stupid jackass of a husband. "You don't know?"

"No, I swear it is the truth. He wouldn't tell me where he was going. He said it was better for deniability that way. All I do know is he has crossed the state line into Nevada. That's nearly a two-hour drive from here."

Pete motioned for Lisbon to get in the vehicle which she reluctantly did, slamming the truck door shut with great force. As Pete climbed back into the driver's seat he grabbed something from the glove compartment. "Oh, Paddy asked me to give you these." He held out a small velvet jewellery box in his hand but Lisbon remained still. Seeing the brunette was not impressed by the gift, Pete carefully prised open the lid to show her what Patrick had bought her. Staring back was a pair of beautiful sparkly diamond and emerald earrings. On any other day she would have swooned at how beautiful they were but Jane's little disappearing act on her had totally washed her sentimental side away.

"Beautiful, huh?" Pete added, hoping he would at least get a smile from the irritated cop.

"Yeah." Lisbon rolled her eyes, pulling the seat belt around her. "They will really suit you, Pete," she added sarcastically, showing she wasn't going to accept her husband's gift.

"I know you are angry, Pepper, but- "

"Take me to see Doug," Lisbon snapped, glaring angrily back at Pete. "Now."

Pete exhaled a deep breath, grateful he wasn't going to be the one in Jane's shoes when his wife finally caught up to him." Yes, ma'am," he replied, starting the old truck back up and driving into the darkness once again.

* * *

"Okay, okay, keep your hair on. If there isn't a fire then-… well, hello again." Doug Linden leaned casually against the door way of his trailer, eyeing the small brunette at his door like she was a giant piece of candy. He glanced back, spotting Pete was standing a few feet behind her. "You just can't keep away from me, Princess, can you?"

"Where's this big carnie poker tournament being held?" Lisbon snapped. Doug studied the small cop, seeing the signs of anger and distress clearly written in her expression.

"And what's it worth?"

Lisbon sighed heavily, feeling about ready to explode or shoot someone if she didn't start getting some answers. "You want money?" she asked, exasperated, searching her small clutch for money to give him.

"I tell you what, Princess. You agree to go out to dinner with me one time and I will tell you what I know." He grinned seductively, stepping out of his trailer and coming up into her personal space. Just as he was bordering on being inappropriate, Pete spoke out, reminding the man he was there watching. "She's married, you fool…. to Jane."

Doug's head spun around at Pete, waiting for the rest of the punchline. When he saw Pete wasn't messing he looked back towards Lisbon. "You mean… You, the cop…and Patrick Jane, the conman… are married?"

Lisbon nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

Doug erupted into loud laughter, highly amused by this new piece of information. "You mean Patrick Jane... THE Patrick Jane, conman, ex psychic, Paddy, the boy wonder, the pretty boy… is married to a COP!"

"I am a federal agent, actually."

"Oh, this is brilliant." Doug paced in front of his trailer, grinning to himself. "Jane's married to a FED! That's hilarious. Wait until this all gets out. Wow! His grandfather would be spinning in his grave if he was still alive!"

"So, the game?" Lisbon asked sharply, not at all phased by Doug's reaction to her marriage. "Where is it?"

"Ah, well, I don't know. I've been passed out all day. Only woke a few hours ago and Jane had already left." Doug grinned when the small brunette bit her lip, obviously annoyed by his answer.

"You are useless," she spat angrily.

Pulling her cell from her clutch she swiped at her screen. "Hi Grace, it's me. Look, I need you to get me a GPS trace on the Black SUV hire vehicle leased out in my name. Yes, right away. It's really important," she said emotionally to her long- time friend. "As per usual I think Jane's about to do something very stupid and need to stop him."

* * *

Two heavy set men dragged Alex Jane out of the small dark storage room. They roughly sat him down upon a chair, his hands tightly handcuffed behind his back and a black bag placed over his head. Finally, one of the vicious looking men pulled the sack away. Alex squinted at the bright light of the large empty bar, blinded for a few seconds before getting his focus.

The carnie tournament players had retreated to a back room of the bar early on to begin the game but two hours in the whole scene changed and Alex was ambushed by some guys at his table and bundled into the dark storage cupboard where he received a few hard kicks and punches along the way. He had been locked in there for what felt like hours now.

Alex glanced between the two fierce looking men, not recognising them. "Come on, fellas, I am sure we can sort this out, whatever it is I owe, there's no need for violence. I can get you the money," He told them, knowing he had a few debts outstanding to some rather nasty people and this may be them coming to collect.

The sound of a creaking floor board behind him made Alex's head spin around. It was then he saw the sight of his long lost son sitting silently watching the whole scene unfold. Alex let out a staggered chuckle, shaking his head at his own failure to work out who was actually responsible.

"I should have guessed this was you," Alex told him. "This has your name written all over it! I can't believe I didn't see it. Clever, devious, brilliant ruse to catch your prey," Alex added, slightly impressed by his son's underhanded tactics. "I guess I am losing my touch in my old age, huh? So, what now? You get these mindless thugs to rough me up a bit, teach me a lesson…"

Jane remained silent, before slowly coming to stand at the front of the bar. Jane's eyes never left his father's fearful expression despite Alex maintaining a cocky arrogant tone as he spoke. He nodded to the two large thugs who silently retreated towards the bar door and left them alone. Pulling a gun from the waist band of his suit pants, Jane placed it down on the bar. Alex's eyes focused nervously on the weapon, suddenly becoming very aware of how serious this situation actually was.

Out of nerves he tried to engage his son in conversation, hoping to defuse the situation before things turned nasty. Patrick was a clever trickster, a top class conman, an ex-psychic. He certainly wasn't a crazed gun welding psychopath. Unfortunately, Alex quickly began to fear for his life when he remembered his son had shot three men and strangled another in his lifetime so far. Hoping he could talk his way out, Alex attempted to take back some control of the situation.

"You fooled me again, Paddy, I thought you always hated guns, son." Alex gave a small friendly laugh, hoping his memory would engage his son. Jane remained eerily silent, tilting his head slightly and studying Alex's face.

"You're looking well, considering everything that's happened to you," Alex continued. "You're older, much broader, a few wrinkles than the last time I saw you, but then you were only eighteen when you left, still a kid." Alex swallowed nervously when Patrick didn't answer or respond to his words at all. "Where's Teresa? Is she here? Is she okay?" He had asked out of genuine curiosity and concern for the girl, but also knowing mentioning her name was bound to invoke a response of some sort.

"Is she okay?" Jane repeated, speaking for the first time since their father son reunion. "You've stolen the last year of my wife's life and you're asking me if she's okay?"

"It wasn't like that, son. Things just got out of hand…" Alex replied, fumbling over his words, showing outwardly how scared he now was.

"Out of hand?"

"I never meant for any of this, son. I swear to you."

"Why don't you tell me what you did mean to happen, then?" Picking up the gun Jane tapped the barrel against the side of his leg suppressing the urge not to use the weapon there and then.

Alex shook his head, desperately trying to think of the right words to say. "I … I…I just… I…I didn't want to lose her."

 _ **"She wasn't yours to lose!"** _ Jane yelled, making Alex's eyes snap back up.

"Look, son, I know now what I did to Teresa was wrong. I can see that now, but you have to believe me I'd never hurt her, I wouldn't ever hurt her. She was in safe hands whilst you were gone, I swear. I love that girl," he added, hoping Patrick would hear the sincerity and truth in his voice.

Jane's eyes narrowed in fury as he began to pace the bar room floor. "And Wylie?"

"I never laid a finger on the lad, I swear. I just used some blackmail techniques to get what I wanted. Nothing you haven't done in your time, I'm sure." Alex shrugged half-heartedly, showing he wasn't that bothered about his actions or the trouble he had caused the poor lad. "But I am really sorry about Teresa. I never meant to hurt her. She was in safe hands, I promise you."

"Safe hands? You hypnotised her! You've stolen her memories! You used and took advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable." Jane moved around the back of his father's chair bending down closer. "You abused my wife!" he added, his voice now taken on a dangerous, darker edge.

Jane walked back around the chair and faced the man, holding the gun barrel firmly at him without a hint of doubt about using it. He watched as beads of sweat started to appear on the older man's brow, watching as Alex darted his eyes frantically around the room for any means of an escape.

"Okay! Okay! What you're saying is right. I did wrong! Please, Paddy, I know you're angry but just please put the gun down," he pleaded, hoping that his son's hatred of him wouldn't decide his fate.

"Don't. Call. Me. Son,"

"Okay. Let's both just take a minute to breathe and think about this." Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Jane seemed to lower the aim of the gun a fraction. "I assume you want me take Teresa out of her trance. I can do that. I can."

"If you think I am letting you anywhere near my wife you're very much mistaken. She is safe and you will never be going near her again, I am going to make sure of it." He let the threat linger. "You're going to tell me what the trigger is to put her under." Jane raised the gun again, directing it at his father's forehead to emphasise the outcome if he didn't comply.

"Okay… okay, I can tell you," Alex stammered, seeing his son was very close to losing it. "The trigger is… Nigel." Seeing his son's eyes narrowing in confusion, Alex explained, "The next door neighbour's cat in Texas. That fat fur ball was always sneaking over to the house and when Teresa stroked him, it calms her and helps puts her in a light trance."

"A cat? You expect me to believe that?" Jane questioned, his voice taking on an angrier tone, not impressed by the lies his father was spinning. He turned the barrel of the gun on its side studying Alex's face for micro expressions.

"The cat! I swear it's the truth! Teresa loves that furry thing and the furry ball loves her back… it's how I could get her under."

After a minute or two Jane pulled his cell phone out of his waist coat pocket, never taking his eyes or his gun off his handcuffed father. The call connected. "Yeah, Cho, it's me. I need to you to obtain my old next door neighbour's cat." There was a short pause. "Yes, a cat," Jane added sharply in annoyance. "Just get that animal in custody and I will explain all when we get back to Texas. Okay. Bye."

Alex saw this as an opportunity to try and talk his son out of doing something stupid. "So, how's about letting me out of these handcuffs, son, hey?" The metal around his wrists clattered against the back of the chair. "They are killing my wrists."

Jane chuckled wickedly at his father's request. "If you think I am just going to let you go free then you really are losing your skills, old man."

"Oh, come on, Paddy, you're not going to arrest me." he replied, hoping the main threat was over now he had spilled the truth about the trigger of Teresa's hypnosis. "We carnies don't grass up our own."

"No, you're right, I am not going to arrest you…. but I am going to shoot you." With that Jane raised the gun again, stepping closer and pulling the latch back so the gun barrel was fully loaded.

"JANE! STOP!" The sound of Lisbon's voice rang out across the empty bar, her eyes widening with horror at the scene developing in front of her. "Don't do this," she added when she saw the anger and rage on her husband's face. A look she hadn't seen very often in the fourteen years she had known him but one that had always scared her.

"Listen to your wife, son, you really don't want to do this!" Alex pleaded, now unable to hide his fear. Seconds later there was the sound of Pete running into the bar, his eyes also widening as he took in the sight of Paddy holding at gun at Alex's head.

"Leave, Teresa!" Jane barked. "Pete, take her back to the carnival. Now."

"Jane, please put the gun down. I am begging you." Lisbon moved a little further into the room, trying desperately to remember her police negotiation skills.

"You should listen to her, Paddy," Pete agreed, nervously wondering what Jane would do next if they didn't talk him down.

"Patrick, please…" she pleaded softly, secretly worried her husband was having another form of breakdown. Jane's hand wavered a little. He locked eyes with his wife, seeing how scared she was for him. He eventually lowered the gun barrel to his side. All three gave a small sigh of relief at Jane's action.

Believing he was safer now the cavalry had arrived, Alex spoke in a hushed tone. "I knew you wouldn't go through with it. You've always been gutless. Always running away when the going gets tough. Have you even told her the truth yet?" Alex stated confidently, now he felt his life was no longer in danger. "No, of course you haven't," he added, mocking his son's cowardice.

"Told me what?" Lisbon moved across the bar, watching as Jane's face changed from anger to rage as his father continued talking.

"You don't deserve her. Any fool can see that. You're an ex conman and psychic, a gutless selfish loser who doesn't care for anyone but himself. Always has been, always will be, "Alex told him snidely, now feeling rather annoyed and very bitter that his son had fooled him so easily and made him feel pretty stupid with it. Attacking his son verbally, getting inside his head was the best way to affect Patrick Jane.

"Shut up!" Jane yelled in retaliation.

"She deserves to be with a man who really loves her."

"I do love her."

"Really? Because according to one of your therapy sessions you said… oh, what was it again?... ah yes. You didn't really want to get remarried, you only married her because you were scared to lose her. "

Jane's mouth dropped open in shock to hear his father quoting his own words, spoken in confidence to his doctor after his breakdown. An evil wicked grin slowly appeared on Alex's face as it was his turn to use shock tactics. "Never trust a doctor, son. I always told you this. Frauds in white coats. They will sell you out at any price."

Jane glanced over to his wife, watching as her beautiful face changed from shock to devastation as his father's cruel attack of words sunk in. With rage and fury running through him, Jane raised the gun again unleashing the safety and aiming the barrel firmly at his father's chest. Alex's smug smile was quickly wiped when he realised his gutless son wasn't as gutless as he first thought. Patrick firmly squeezed the trigger more determinedly than ever before.

Lisbon ran forward, trying desperately to stop Jane from doing the worst. "Noooo!"

The gun fired. A loud bang echoed around the empty bar. Teresa ran towards her husband as she saw Alex Jane collapse off the chair and onto the floor in a heap.

Once the sheer panic had finally settled, a weeping Alex lifted his head up from the floor, manically looking down at his body and searching for signs of blood or a bullet wound. He eventually looked up to see his son towering over him with the gun in his hand. The fear of believing he was about to die had made Alex lose bladder control and he was struggling to catch his breath through his open sobbing. He had truly believed in that moment his son was going to end his life.

"Blanks." Jane snidely told him, dropping a few of the fake bullets from his pocket onto the dirty floor. He then pulled out a brown envelope stuffed full of money, throwing it down at his pathetic state of a father. "There. That's what you originally came to Texas for. Now leave and I never want you to see you ever again. If I do, I promise I will kill you."

He wasn't going to lie, seeing his normally larger than life conman of a father crumpled in a heap of his own urine on the floor, pleading for his life, and sobbing like a child was very satisfactory. It was exactly the outcome he had wanted if he was honest. To show his father that he had no control or hold over him or his wife. He had never planned to kill the man but he had wanted to scare the living daylights out of the him, so much that Alex Jane would never burden their lives ever again.

Teresa pulled up as she neared the pair, realising the scene she had just witnessed wasn't quite what it had first appeared to be. She angrily snatched up the gun from Jane's hand, emptying the clip and seeing that the bullets were all blank. She angrily glanced at her husband, furious that he had fooled them all. She had truly thought he had shot and killed his father cold heartedly.

Jane stepped away taking Lisbon gently by the wrist, pulling her from his father sitting slumped and crying on the floor. She allowed him to move her back still a little, stunned and in shock by the events that had just happened.

"Come on, let's go. It's over," Jane told her softly.

Once her brain had kicked back in she yanked her arm free, giving him another furious look. He stood quietly, knowing she was furious and that anything he said right now wasn't going to appease her mood in any way. He was only grateful the bullets in the gun weren't real otherwise he felt he would be the one in serious trouble. The sound of a lumbering Pete approaching made Jane turn.

"What the hell was that?" Pete breathlessly spat, resting his large arm on Jane's shoulder for support as he tried to catch his breath, having run a very short sprint for the first time in about forty-five years.

"Just teaching my lowlife father a lesson he will never forget," Jane replied, looking at his wife and maintaining eye contact with her and letting her know he didn't regret his actions.

Lisbon stormed back towards Alex, who was still sitting handcuffed on the dirty bar room floor, his head hung in shame. She came to stand in front of him, waiting for the older man to look up at her. Jane began to follow, but Pete held him back, nodding to him silently to let them have their own moment - daughter in law and father in law.

When Alex didn't lift his head up and seeing what state he was in, Lisbon took the lead. "I trusted you."

"I know…" Alex sobbed quietly.

"And you used and hypnotised me."

"I am so sorry." He whispered.

"If you ever truly cared, Alex, then just take the money and leave. I never want to see you again," Lisbon said, her eyes filling with tears but not allowing them to fall. She marched back over to where Jane and Pete were watching and, without saying a word to either of them, she swiftly exited the bar.

Right now she was ready to explode with anger at all three of them and she wasn't even sure who she was more furious at, her husband, her father in law or herself! All she did know was she wanted to go home to Texas.

* * *

 _Two days later._

Lisbon cell phone sprang into life as it sat on the kitchen work top. Throwing down her tea towel she scooped the handset up. "Hey, Cho I am just setting off to the crime scene now," she told him, assuming he was chasing where she was.

"Hey, Lisbon. I am ringing because I wanted to let you know about Alex Jane." Hearing the seriousness in Cho's voice she slowly lowered herself to sit on one of her kitchen chairs preparing herself for the worst. "Alex? What about him?"

"I thought you should know. He's just handed himself into Local PD in Nevada and confessed to everything he did."

To say Lisbon was shocked by this news was an understatement. She and Jane had finally returned to Texas the night before, tension unfortunately still strained between them after everything that had gone down and she had just assumed that Alex Jane had disappeared down to South America. "Really? He did?"

"Yep. Just walked in and handed himself over. Confessed all. Just thought you should know. Nevada FBI will take it over from here but it will be a straight forward open and closed case and Alex Jane will be sentenced and sent down."

Lisbon flinched a little at Cho's cold harsh assessment, feeling uneasy about the old man who she had spent the last year of her life with and grown to care for, being thrown in jail. "Right. Thanks for letting me know, Cho."

"No worries. See you in a while."

Lisbon ended the call with her boss. She sat quietly, letting her head get around it all. She felt uneasy by this new development. She knew she should be feeling over the moon that Alex Jane had handed himself in and that justice would be served for her and Wylie but the fact of the matter was she didn't.

It all sat uneasily in her gut… and in her heart.

* * *

 **A/N: I was going to try wrapping this story up and maybe do a sequel but I think I will just continue and called this rest of story, part 2. Part 2 will be a little more lighter but still drama filled and of course, lots of Jisbon. ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hi all. Sorry it's taken me a while to update but real life got in the way. I also had a bit of mind block. I was a little stumped how to get this story to where I want it to go. I always have start, a middle and ending of a story in mind but getting to those parts is always a work in progress. I also realised that I had a lot of drama and angst in part 1 and whilst that is great fun to write if I tried to tackle all those things in part 2 it would end up being a very, very, very, long story and I just don't have the time or talent for that lol... so I am opting for the classic Bruno Heller way. (Don't hate me too much. ;)**_

 _ **This part 2 will be less action and more family related drama. Parts of this story are inspired by something that actually happened to my own family. Thank you for all the kind reviews and follows too I am always touched and humbled that you take the time to read my story, I truly am.**_

 _ **(To Sugar Azucar - I couldn't reply personally to your lovely review but just to explain that when I said Pete hadn't run in 45 years, what I meant was that the last time he ran was when he was prob aged 12-13 yrs so that would make him 57 years in age or so now. I hope that makes more sense to you. My fault, I should have made it more clearer. :)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own TM. :(**_

 _ **Enjoy.x**_

* * *

 _ **11 Weeks Later**_

Wylie's apartment door slowly creaked open as Jane tilted his head through the gap. Wearing a big friendly smile, he let the young Agent know he was in no danger to his unexpected visit. Since Wylie's public breakdown, Jane had made a purposeful effort to visit the young man to make sure he was fully on the mend. Some part of him felt responsible for what his father had done and the emotional impact his antics had caused him. Now that Wylie was receiving regular grief counselling and had been signed off work for a few months he was doing much better and was much more himself again.

Wylie opened the door wide allowing Jane to enter. His regular visitors mainly consisted of Cho and Jane, along with a few members of his close family who brought him cooked meals but he always enjoyed Jane's visits the most. They often played board games and he felt very comfortable being around the consultant. Maybe it was knowing that Jane had suffered his own mental breakdown that made Wylie feel less of a freak. He felt Jane could understand him better than any of the others.

"Thanks for coming. Good to see you." Wylie greeted him as Jane made his way into the apartment and handing him a bag full of books. Jane took a seat in a black leather armchair while Wylie made them some tea. Handing Jane a steaming hot brew, Wylie settled down on the leather couch nearby. "So how's Lisbon?"

"Oh, you know Lisbon, always busy with paperwork but she says to send you her love. Actually she has gone to visit her brother and his family for a few days. I think it will be good for her," Jane said, sipping from Wylie's favourite Star Wars R2-D2 mug. The young IT tech guy nodded with a smile but it quickly faded as he plucked the courage up to ask the question he had been avoiding since Jane's regular visits had started. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

Jane paused, placing his drink on the table in front of him and moving to the edge of the seat to be closer to the man. "No, Jason, she doesn't hate you," he told him softly, a little sad that the young man believed Lisbon could ever hate him. "She doesn't. I promise you."

"Wouldn't blame her. You know, after what I did." Wylie lifted his head back up, his eyes full of shame as he battled with the guilt about the part he had played in this whole mess. "I get why she hasn't been to visit me. I do."

"This isn't about you, Jason. She's had a tough time this past year and now that it's all over she is struggling to get her head around it. All she is doing right now is throwing herself into her work and hoping her issues will just go away." Jane rolled his eyes, picking up the mug and taking another sip of his drink. "Typical Lisbon. That's why I convinced her to go spend the time with her family. She needs the break."

Wylie smiled back at Jane's words, happy to hear that Lisbon was being loved and cared for. "Do you think you two will be able to work things out?" he asked hopefully.

Jane's confident smile spoke volumes. "Of course we will, I mean, things are…" he paused, searching for the right word, "-delicate still but we are getting there slowly. I am giving her the time and space she needs. In her mind she has spent the last year angry at me and, despite her memories slowly returning, it's hard to suddenly forget that. She has to learn to trust me again." Jane sat quietly, thinking about how part of that lack of trust had been his own fault when he had left her stranded once again. Deciding to move the conversation on to something a bit more positive, Jane changed the subject. "Did I tell you that I have moved into our home by the lake?"

"No. That's great news."

"Yes, and much better than that dodgy motel I was staying in. It's such a beautiful home, so peaceful and tranquil out there. It will be even better when Lisbon finally moves in."

Jane had decided to move into their new home a few weeks after their return to Texas. He had considered moving back in with Lisbon but that somehow that felt like a step backwards for them. Lisbon had asked him to give her some time to get her head around everything and they had agreed to take things slowly between them.

He was also finally honest about his recent breakdown and the events that had led up to it all. It hadn't been easy for him to admit and definitely hadn't been easy for Lisbon to hear. In fact, she had been devastated by his admission about how he had really felt in the early days of their budding relationship. His honesty about it all had made her distance herself and they hadn't been physically intimate again since their first reunion back in Arizona. It wasn't how he wanted things to be between them but he understood she needed time and space and he would have to wait until she was ready to forgive him to get their marriage back on track. And he would wait. He would wait until the end of time if that is what she needed.

"How's the house looking?"

"Good. I've got the place looking like it did when I first finished building it. Just needed a good spring clean, mainly. I will admit it's a bit bare inside, definitely need's a woman's touch, but I have my couch and a few bits. The essentials. That's all I need for now."

"I am so sorry," Wylie said softly "I am part of the reason Lisbon isn't living there with you."

"We have just spent a year living apart, a few more months aren't going to hurt," Jane replied, hoping to ease Wylie's guilt once more. Seeing the young man's head dip in shame, Jane sat forward again. "This isn't your fault, Wylie. I don't blame you for what happened and neither does Lisbon. There is only one person to blame and he will be locked up in prison for the next 4 years."

"Why do you think Alex handed himself in? I mean what does he get out it?" Wylie asked curiously. He was a little stunned that the old conman had just handed himself over to the police so easily.

Jane sighed. "I am not sure…. but there will be some sort of motive behind his selfless good deed. Always is with that man," Jane huffed, finishing off his tea. "Look, I am sorry I can't stay for very long today but have to get back to the office. We have hit a dead end with this Austin serial killer case. Only good outcome is it seems the psycho has stopped his killing spree for the time being," Jane added, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket.

"You think something has happened to the killer?"

"Hmmm, maybe. I am more inclined to think that the killer is linked to the software company we are investigating and has gone into hiding. We finally got search warrants issued and we are still trailing through the endless list of employees who have access to the underground car garage and CCTV records. Over two thousand workers work there but I've narrowed it down to a possible four hundred twenty-three suspects that it might be."

"Only four hundred and twenty-three? Huh," Wylie quipped cheekily, suddenly missing his team, the office and his job. Wylie walked Jane over to the exit. "So…how's the new IT person doing?" Wylie asked awkwardly, shifting on his feet.

"Uh, yeah, she is good. Not up to your level of IT brilliance, Wylie, but still pretty impressive. She is a sweet girl and is always eager to help out a colleague," Jane grinned.

"You mean you have her wrapped around your little finger."

Jane winked mischievously at the younger man before forging a look of shock. "I am hurt by that accusation, young Jason. When have I ever wrapped people around my little finger?" He grinned wickedly, letting Wylie know he had hit the nail right on the head. "Cho says you're welcome back on the team whenever you feel ready to return. We need all the assistance we can on this latest case to be honest. Even my ingenious mind can't work out everything on its own," Jane added, before he pressed for the elevator down.

A flash of fear crossed Wylie's face at the consultant's suggestion he should return to FBI. Whilst he missed his job and team mates he wasn't sure if he was mentally strong enough to face going back just yet. "Uh, well, I don't know. I don't think I am quite ready to return."

Jane moved back to the front door, lowering his voice so the nosey neighbour opposite didn't overhear. "I know first-hand what it is like to lose the woman you love, Wylie," he told him, squeezing his shoulder in comfort. "And I also know what it is to lose your mind over it, but I promise you, things will get easier, you will eventually start to see life and your future differently. I never thought I'd be able to move on from what happened to my family but look at me now. I fought so hard against it for so many years but yet here I am in love with an amazing woman, re-married, and my life is just beginning," Jane added with a hint pride to his voice followed by a big 'I know something you don't know' expression upon his face.

"Even with things between you and Lisbon being strained right now?" Wylie asked, surprised by the consultant's upbeat and positive attitude when his wife was still living separately from him.

"Meh, that's only a minor blip. We will get through it." Jane waved off Wylie's concerns. "Sometimes, Wylie, things un-expectantly happen in life and they make you realise there are more important matters to focus on."

"Okay," Wylie frowned, not fully understanding what the man was going on about. Jane chuckled seeing the look of confusion on the young man's face.

"All will be revealed soon, my friend." Jane gave a playful wink before entering the elevator then disappeared from sight.

* * *

"Hi, I am Agent Lisbon from the FBI. I am here to visit Prisoner 45-637. The name's Jane. Alexander Jane," Lisbon told the moody overweight prisoner guard who was sitting slumped at the reception desk of the maximum security prison. The unfriendly guard glanced up from his newspaper, raking his eyes over her chest before swivelling the official visitor signing in book towards her.

"Sign in here and hand over any weapons or keys you may have over there." The guard sighed rudely at her. Once Lisbon had handed all her belongings to another prison guard, the first made his way to the large locked and bolted door leading into the prison. "Follow me."

The sounds of the maximum secure prison came to life as the moody guard walked her through a series of secure doors and entry points. She firmly pulled her suit jacket across her body as she noticed other prison guards leering at her behind the shatter proof glass of the control room. Eventually they reached the prison's visiting area but the overweight guard continued on down the nosey corridor. "Isn't the visiting area this way?" Lisbon asked sharply, not wishing to be in this man's company any longer than she needed to be.

"I am taking you to the infirmary," the guard told her, stuffing a chewing gum in his mouth and not taking any notice of Lisbon's astounded look at this piece of information.

"Infirmary?"

The guard swiped his key card down the slot and showed Lisbon into the quieter prison hospital wing. Eventually the man stopped outside a glass partition where they looked in and saw a badly beaten Alex Jane lying unconscious in the bed. "What happened?" Lisbon asked, her voice breaking a little.

"Your guy here ran into some trouble," the guard said dismissively, leaning against the wall casually and staring directly down at her breasts again.

Lisbon ignored the fat leering jackass beside her and focused her attention on Alex through the glass. "Yes, but what happened?" she asked firmly, getting her emotions in check in front of the man.

"He was beaten up and stabbed with some form of sharp object. Was found beaten and bleeding out in the carpentry workshop apparently. The doctor will be able to tell you more on his injuries." With that the door to the hospital reopened and Lisbon turned to see a slim taller well presented man reading a clipboard in his hands. "Hey, Doc. This is Agent Lisbon. She is from the FBI. Came here to interview Jane in there."

The doctor glanced up from his notes and held a polite and professional hand out to Lisbon to shake whilst the porky guard made his way out of the exit. "Hello. I am Doctor Ryan. Mr Jane is quite weak at the moment but I am hoping he should wake up soon once the morphine starts to wear off. I am sure if you go steady with your questioning, Agent…"

"I am not here to question him," Lisbon interrupted sharply. "He's my… father in law."

The Doctor did a double take at the petite brunette to his right. Seeing there was fear and worry etched upon the pretty agent's face, the doctor decided to employ a softer bedside manner than he normally took in the prison hospital. "It looks a lot worse than it is. I can assure you," he told her softly. The Doctor came to stand closer, looking through the glass at Alex. "The bruising on Mr Jane's face and upper body will eventually fade; he has a broken wrist and few cracked ribs, unfortunately. We will have to wait until his stomach stitches are out and the wound has healed before we can start his long term treatment. He has lost a lot of blood."

"Treatment? What for?" Lisbon asked in a hushed tone as she fought back her tears as the doctor explained the older man's injuries.

"Well, I think maybe Mr Jane should be the one to tell you, Agent Lisbon." The Doctor moved to step away but Lisbon turned, blocking his path.

"Tell me… please."

The Doctor nervously glanced at his patient, knowing he was breaking Doctor and Patient protocol if he told his daughter in law without the man's consent. Finally, Doctor Ryan sighed, relenting to the Agent's wishes. "Mr Jane has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Up until now he has refused to accept any treatment but I am hoping that whilst he is in here I can convince him to change his mind."

Lisbon mouth dropped open as the doctor said the words cancer and she tried to get her head around it all. "He refused?" she asked, stunned.

"Yes, he is quite a stubborn man." Lisbon couldn't help but nod in agreement with that observation; stubbornness and pig headedness seemed to be a Jane family trait. "Mr Jane was diagnosed over seven months ago. He has had several tests for stomach pain for over two years now. Unfortunately, early stages of this type of cancer are hard to detect so it's taken a while to get the correct diagnosis. He refused point blank to have any treatment. Told us that the Jane family have robust genes and he didn't need treatment," The Doctor added amusingly, dumbfounded by that logic.

Lisbon moved closer to the glass and she instinctively put her hand to the glass. "I had no idea. I mean, he did have some pain but he always told me it was heart burn… or gas."

Despite the small Agent putting on a strong front, the Doctor could see she was heavily affected by this news. "Mr Jane is very sick, I am afraid, and if you can try and talk some sense into him about receiving treatment then it may just prolong his life some more."

"Prolong? You mean-" Dropping the hard FBI Agent persona, Lisbon finally let the tears prick her eyes.

The doctor slowly nodded his head, confirming her worst fears. "With the right treatment and care Mr Jane may live another year, maybe even two, if he responds well to the treatment."

"You mean he will die in prison?"

"When that time comes, Mr Jane will be transferred to a hospice where they will care for him and his family can visit." The voices of a few guards and a very disgruntled prisoner came echoing down the hall, drawing the Doctor's attention away. "I am really sorry, Agent Lisbon, I have to go deal with this. Please go in and see Mr Jane when you are ready. He is unconscious at the moment but hearing your voice may bring him round."

"Thank you, Doctor." Lisbon watched as the Doctor hurriedly walked away and entered another treatment room to deal with the noise and commotion. Lisbon stood for a few minutes in silence, watching her badly hurt and dying father in law through the glass. Finally, she wiped away a falling tear on her cheek getting her head together. She had come here to face the man about what he had done but she hadn't ever thought she would be visiting his hospital bedside. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket placing the phone to her ear. Eventually the call connected.

"Hi, Abbott, it's Lisbon." She smiled gently when Abbott greeted her call warmly. "I need a favour. A big one."

* * *

"Hey you're back earlier than planned." Jane said happily when he saw his wife was standing sipping a coffee in the break room. She hadn't been due back until a day later so to see her two days earlier was a nice surprise for him. He entered the break room, marching right up to her and placed a soft kiss to her lips. They may have not slept together since returning from Texas but they were still on fairly affectionate terms. Or as affectionate as Lisbon would let him be. "I've missed you." Jane wrapped his arms around her. Feeling her tense a little at his open display of affection in the office, he finally released her taking a step over to the kettle to make himself some tea. "So, when did you get back?"

"This morning," Lisbon replied sweetly.

"How's your brother and his rowdy brood?" he smirked, remembering what chaos it had been having the Stan Lisbon clan stay with them for a weekend.

"They are good. The kids keeping them both on their toes as per usual. Stan has taken over Jimmy's soccer league team and taking to it way too seriously," Lisbon chuckled lightly, remembering her brother's ridiculous enthusiastic team talk to a bunch of children before the game. "Karen even had to have a serious word with him when he became very animated from the side lines and shouted angrily at a young kid for missing a goal. Poor kid."

Jane laughed, imaging his brother in law doing just that and probably scarring the poor child for life. "I am sure Stan will calm down or Karen will keep him in check."

"Yeah, maybe," Lisbon grinned knowing her brother was a worse bad loser than she was so the chances were slim. "I feel this could be the start of an ambitious pushy father in the making."

Jane came to stand behind his wife linking his arms gently around her waist and pulling her close against him. "So, as you're home earlier than expected maybe we could go out for dinner tonight? Celebrate your return?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could come over to yours and we could spend a quiet night in together." Jane's eyes briefly widened, overjoyed by her suggestion. If things were going to develop physically between them again then a quiet romantic meal at home with just the two of them was just the ticket.

"You mean our place," he corrected her, snuggling his face into her neck and placing his lips against her smooth skin, feeling like they were finally on the right path to how things were before his breakdown.

Lisbon rolled her eyes but didn't react. "I thought we could talk. There is something important that we need to discuss."

Jane lifted his head, smiling like the cat who had got the cream. He had been waiting for this moment to come for the past eleven days. With his keen eye and ability to read his wife pretty well, he had been itching to confront this matter but had refrained and been patient. "Okay, that sounds intriguing."

"It's nothing, well, nothing we can't handle," she answered sweetly to him and giving him a warm smile to reassure him it wasn't anything bad.

Jane beamed back at her, absolutely loving hearing her speak about them as couple again, a unit, a team, facing things together. "Okay, well it's a date then. I will even cook your favourite Italian dish if you're lucky." He moved away to place his tea cup in the dishwasher before placing a quick kiss to his wife's cheek.

She smiled as he made his way out of the break room, realising that whilst she had only been in Chicago for 2 days she had actually really missed her husband.

* * *

"Nice timing. Dinner is nearly ready," Jane said cheerfully, opening the cabin door to his wife. He had his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows and a tea towel thrown over one shoulder, looking a little flushed but extremely handsome. He stepped aside for Lisbon to enter the cabin. "You know you don't have to knock at your own home."

"Just felt like I should." They were taking things slowly but they were still living separately and that major fact couldn't be ignored forever. Jane lovingly smiled, seeing her discomfort. "This is your home, Teresa." He closed the door behind them and guided her to sit on the leather couch. "Would you like a drink?"

"Yes, uh, no. Yes," she stuttered nervously, unsure if drinking alcohol tonight would help her relax or not. "I'll just take a water."

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so just relax. I will be back in bit." With that, Jane disappeared into the kitchen to finish of his masterpiece signature Lasagne dish.

After eating a homemade beautiful dinner and having two helpings, Lisbon placed her cutlery down on the plate and sat back in her chair, puffing her full and satisfied stomach outwards. "That was really lovely. Thank you. I must have been hungry," she added when she realised she had eaten most of the Lasagne he had made. "Makes me realise just how much I've missed your cooking."

Jane gently rubbed his hand over hers, happy to see she was eating properly again and was even putting on some weight. She looked so much better for it. "You're welcome. You know you wouldn't have to miss my cooking if you finally moved in," he said directly, making it clear what he wanted for their relationship. He had expected to be met with reluctance but was happily surprised by her answer.

"Actually, it's what I want to talk to you about. I think it is time I moved in."

Beaming a big smile at her answer, "Come on. Let's move to the couch." He guided her up from the table and they settled down to cuddle on the couch. He felt that if they had bodily contact any doubts or fears she may be having about them living together again would hopefully disappear with her in his arms. Jane gave a small smug smile but quickly hid it when she shifted around more to face him with a serious expression on her face. He didn't want to ruin this moment between them or let it be known to her he knew what was coming next..

"There is also something important I need to tell you," Lisbon sat up more as she spoke, creating some distance between them. Seeing the anxiety building, he gently caressed his thumb across her cheek bone. Lisbon tilted her head, pushing her face more against his palm as she sought some comfort from his touch. "Hey, whatever it is, we will face together. I need you to know I am with you 100% and I am not going anywhere, Teresa. Nothing will ever take me away from you again. Ever. That's a promise."

Releasing a staggered breath, Lisbon looked at her husband square in the eyes and nodded. "I didn't stay with my brother for the whole of the weekend," she told him. "I left slightly earlier than planned and took a detour." She paused, swallowing nervously. "To Nevada."

A flicker of doubt suddenly flashed in Jane's eyes as he realised this conversation wasn't going the way he originally hoped it would. He had always said his wife was a mystery to him and it was exactly times like this that proved his exact point. "Okay? Why Nevada?" It was his turn to shift nervously.

Lisbon glanced away, composing herself. She closed her eyes for a brief second before getting a grip and turning back to face a now very curious and nervous looking Jane. "I went to see your father," she announced firmly with her no nonsense CBI team leader tone edge to her voice.

"What?! Why?" Sitting more upright and creating more distance between them, Jane ran his hand down his face trying to calm himself at this news. He was supposed to be convincing his wife to move in with him and not causing more tension between them.

"I went there to get some answers." Seeing Jane was about to speak again she didn't allow him the chance. "You're right, I have been burying my head in the sand over all this. I am not facing up to what happened and I just needed to get some real answers for myself." Realising Jane wasn't appeased by this explanation she tried to be more open about her feelings. "To find out if everything this past year between me and him had all been a lie - a con."

Jane abruptly stood up and began pacing in front of the fire place, creating even more distance between them and feeling angry that she had kept this little plan to herself and gone to see his no good father. "For Christ's sake, Lisbon. The man is a serial manipulator. Let me guess, he spun you some bull crap about how it all got out of hand and that he never meant to hurt or hypnotise you…. Huh?"

"Jane, I-"

"Jesus, Teresa, he has probably hypnotised you all over again for all we know." Jane came forward, lifting her chin up and frantically searching her eyes for any signs of hypnosis. Lisbon sighed heavily, pushing his hand away. She had fully expected him to react in this over protective way but that didn't mean she had to encourage it. "He didn't hypnotise me, Jane. I am perfectly fine." Jane stepped away again, relived to see that she wasn't under hypnosis at least. He anxiously began pacing the floor again.

"I have asked that Alex be transferred here to Texas."

Jane halted his pacing, narrowed his eyes at her, brimming with confusion mixed with fear and anger. "Why would you do that?"

Lisbon stood up from the couch and stepped closer to her husband before softening her voice. "Because Alex is really sick."

Jane erupted into callous laughter which made Lisbon's lips thin with annoyance. "Oh please, is that what he told you?" Jane grabbed the rest of his half drunken wine glass from the coffee table. Shaking his head, he gulped down a large mouthful, still highly amused. "Yes, you're right, he is sick; a sick son of a bitch who has needed professional help for many years, Lisbon, but that is nothing new."

"He is dying, Patrick." Lisbon said pleadingly, trying to get Jane to realise the seriousness of his father's illness.

"Good!" Jane moved to sit back down on the leather couch, crossing his legs and letting her know he didn't care either way.

"Jane! How can you say that?"

"What?! Do you want tears from me because he won't get them. In fact, I will make sure I throw a big celebration the day that man is finally six feet under." Jane took another gulp of his drink, glancing away with no remorse from what he had just said.

"You're a cruel heartless bastard at times, Patrick Jane, do you know that?"

"And who do you think made me that way?" he replied, keeping his voice low and sinister and trying to drive home his point to her. "So, come on then, tell me why is getting him a transfer from one prison to another going to make a difference to this 'supposedly' sick man?" he asked sarcastically, not buying the sob story his father had clearly spun her.

"Actually, Alex is not being transferred from one prison to another. He is going to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, instead. Here in Texas," Lisbon replied in a direct deadpan manner, giving Cho a good run for his money. She knew this piece of information would really upset the apple cart so she needed to be detached from whatever onslaught Jane was going to give over it.

"Please tell me this is a joke, Teresa," he gaped, stunned by her words. Lisbon slowly shook her head and folded her arms in front of her as a defence mechanism as Jane pushed himself off the couch to come and stand directly in front of her. They stood eyeing each other for a minute. Jane was the first to break the silence. "If you think for one minute that I am allowing you and-" he stopped himself from continuing, quickly rethinking what he would say next. "If you think that I am allowing you to live under the same roof as that lowlife then you are very much mistaken, Teresa. You will have to put me six feet under before I allow that to happen," he told her, attempting to make his point quite clear and put his foot down on that matter.

Lisbon rolled her eyes at his attempt at dominance. "One; you can't stop me doing anything, Jane and two; that's not even what is going to happen."

"So what, then? Because as far as I aware that man doesn't own a house or home or a single roof tile so where exactly is he going to be serving this house arrest? Huh?"

"He can live in my house."

Jane's eyes widened with horror at her last statement. "And I would move in here with you." She added before he could react to that last part.

Jane tilted his head as he realised what she was doing. "Oh, bravo, Teresa. That's good. Hit me with a sucker punch and then soften it with a kiss. I've taught you well over the years. You using my own tactics against me, Lisbon." He quickly stormed over to the dining table and began picking up the plates, allowing himself some time to get his thoughts together. Lisbon slowly followed him out the living area. She moved to the kitchen doorway to find her husband silently looking out of the window with his hands braced firmly on the work top.

"My father is not coming to Texas," he stated, without even looking at her. "How do you even think this will get the go ahead?"

"You are not the only one who can get things done around here, Jane. I have connections."

"Abbott!" He sighed as the penny finally dropped. Abbott had always vowed that he owed his team a big favour after the Rio Bravo incident and he certainly had the power to make things happen now he was based in DC as a new big wig at the FBI headquarters.

"Alex will be transferred here next month," she told him, softening her voice and hoping he would begin to accept it. "You won't even have to see him, Jane, or have anything to do with him. He won't be able to be any more than fifty yards from the house," she added quietly.

Finally Jane turned around, eyeing his wife suspiciously and scoffing at her. "The minute he is out of prison he will go on the run. I don't know if this is down to your hormones or if you have lost your mind." He saw a instant flash of anger followed by a very offended glare at his statement but he didn't respond to it. "Maybe the hypnosis has had worse side effects on you then we originally thought," he mumbled, more to himself than to her, trying to work out exactly what was going on with his wife and if she had totally lost her marbles.

"Excuse me? How dare you. I am absolutely fine!" she responded, raising her voice that he was suggesting this result was maybe a part of her monthly cycle.

"Why, then? Huh? After everything that bastard did, to you, to us, why do you want him back in our lives?" Jane asked.

Lisbon pushed her hands into her jeans pockets, darting her eyes downwards but remaining silent. All she knew was that she wasn't going to let this lonely sick old man die alone in a six by four cell. Despite everything, he was family and sometimes family deserved second chances. Even the likes of Alexander Jane. Her mother had taught her that. She had made a conscious promise and effort after she was married that she would start putting her family first.

Jane shook his head in disbelief when he realised his wife actually still cared for his lousy father after everything he had done. He wasn't sure if this new rescue mission she was determined to go on was all because she couldn't save her own father so she would give it a good go with his father instead.

"Where are you going?" she asked as Jane stormed out of the kitchen, her eyes pleading with him to stay and talk. She had known his reaction to Alex's new custodial arrangements wasn't going to be a good one but she had hoped that he would accept it.

Jane grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. "I need some air." He told her inhaling a deep breath trying to contain his emotions from exploding. The last thing their marriage needed was a another mountain to climb so he needed some time away to get his head together. He left through the front door of their home as Lisbon stood quietly watching him disappear in to the darkness.

Lisbon leaned her head against the door frame of the kitchen, finally letting out a sigh and feelings upset their evening had ended this badly, although she should have expected it. She was unsure why she was feeling so emotional since getting back from Nevada. Maybe it was due to everything that had happened. Maybe it was seeing Alex Jane again. Maybe it was seeing someone she cared for so hurt and ill. Maybe it was because she was scared of losing her husband all over again.

Or maybe it was something else.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hiiii. So sorry for the long wait in updating. Real life again got in the way and I just didn't have the time to update any quicker. thanks for the reviews and encouragement on my last chapter, you all make the hard work and time worth it. Thank you so much.**_

 _ **I am attempting to make this part of the story a bit lighter and I hope that is coming across in the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't owe the mentalist.**_

 _ **Enjoy ;)**_

* * *

Alex sat quietly glancing at his own reflection in the double sided mirror on the wall. He grimaced as he took in the extent of his cuts and bruising. He had received a bad beating and whilst his injuries were healing slowly, his face was still fairly swollen and covered in purple green and yellow patches. He had been issued a standard Prison issue wheelchair that had been provided by the infirmary as he was still too weak to stand for long periods of time. The prison doctor had advised him that he was being transferred out of Nevada but hadn't given him any other details on the matter or the reason why. Next thing Alex knew he was being put on a private FBI jet and flown back to the state of Texas without knowing the reason.

The door of the small FBI interview room opened. Alex's eyes widened and a smile graced his lips at the sight of his daughter in law as she entered the grey room. His fingers anxiously gripped the arm rests as the small brunette made her way to the chair opposite his. Lisbon shot him a small smile in return as she took her seat.

"Hi, Alex." she greeted him softly, breaking the nervous tension building between them. Fiddling nervously with his hands, Alex smiled warmly back. "Hey, sweetheart. Good to see you. You're looking well."

When she had flown to Arizona to visit him in prison he had been far too out of it to know she had even been there. So whilst she had seen him looking much worse and weaker then he currently was, it was the first time he had seen her since Jane's kidnapping of his father.

"Shame I can't say the same about you," Lisbon replied, raising an eyebrow at the older man then glanced down at the wheelchair. Alex quickly diverted his eyes away, embarrassed by his current condition and being seen as weak and vulnerable to others.

"Meh, I ran into some old friends. Let's just say it wasn't the happy reunion I hoped for." Alex chuckled, trying to keep the matter light despite the seriousness of it all. Eventually he focused back on the brunette again, dropping the playfulness. "Why I am here?" he asked, swallowing nervously and glancing at the two-way mirror behind her. "Let me guess? Paddy? Friends in high places, huh?"

"No, Alex. You being here isn't down to Patrick," Lisbon answered honestly, noticing how anxious and nervous the older man was becoming. Straightening her back and trying to sound more professional, Lisbon continued. "You will be serving the rest of your sentence here in Texas from now on."

"I think I'd rather take my chances back in Arizona," he told her, unsure of what the result of being in the same State as his furious and revengeful son would actually be.

"Really? Because the people who that did to you," Lisbon nodded her head towards his stab wound, "they clearly didn't want you to come out alive. How long before they try again?"

"Everyone dies eventually," Alex shrugged nonchalantly. He knew his time was limited on this earth and maybe being killed by a fellow inmate was a better option in the long run.

"Yes, but not like that," she told him, not impressed by his flippant answer. Shifting herself in the chair she prepared for her next difficult question as she held eye contact with her father in law. "Why did you hand yourself over to the police, Alex? You could have taken the money Patrick gave you and left?"

It was Alex Jane's turn to shift uncomfortably in his seat. He instantly broke eye contact and Lisbon knew he was indecisive on whether to tell her the truth. Eventually Alex looked back to her. "I guess I wanted you to know that I _do_ truly regret what I did."

Alex hoped that she would believe his words. He had done some terrible things in his lifetime but hurting her was one of his biggest regrets. "And I realised to prove it I have to pay the penalty for what I did. So I handed myself over."

Alex's head dipped as he fiddled nervously with his hands. Just like his son, it wasn't very often someone got to see the real side of the conman, but this one of those times. Lisbon sat silently, watching the broken man opposite, believing that what he was telling her was true. She had lived with the man for nearly a year and you got to know someone pretty well when you live with them twenty- four seven.

"One of my colleagues will be transferring you to your new location," Lisbon said in a more casual tone and turning the conversation back. She stood up from the table, opening the door to show Alex who she was talking about. There stood to attention beside the door was a very large tall agent who stepped into the doorway. "This is Agent Bruce. Play nice. I have told him all about you so make sure you behave. Okay? I need to sort some paperwork out and I will follow on after."

The tall agent gave a quick nod to Alex as a way of introducing himself whilst Lisbon explained his orders. The tall bald headed agent towered over Lisbon, being at least 6'7 tall and built like a brick house. If he was planning an escape, which he wasn't, even on a good bill of health and without the wheel chair, broken ribs, fractured wrist and stab wound, Alex would struggle to escape this large brute of a man babysitting him, he thought to himself.

"Okay. Let's go big guy," Alex told the tall agent as the man unlocked the wheels of the chair. "If I am lucky I may be in time for TV hour in the slammer," Alex added, hopefully. The agent wheeled him out of the interview room, out to the back elevators and down to the custody suites. Whilst Alex still wasn't really sure why he was being transferred to a Texan prison, it had been nice to see his daughter in law again and maybe, being in the same State, he could convince her to visit him in prison sometime. Unless this was all a ruse for his son to finish the job and end his life. That was also a strong possibility too.

* * *

Lisbon stepped out of her SUV to hear the sound of raised voices coming from inside her old house. "What's going on?" Lisbon asked as she entered her old home and saw Agent Bruce struggling with a disgruntled Alex. It was clear the two men weren't making friends since leaving the FBI building together.

"He won't let me help him," Agent Bruce told her, puffing out an exhausted breath and placing his hands irritably on his hips as the older man in the chair slapped his hands away.

"I am 67 years of age. I am perfectly able to walk if I want to."

"It's okay, Matt. I will take over from here. You can wait outside," Lisbon told the large agent who looked extremely relieved he was being released from his duties of babysitting Alex Jane. If he had thought his consultant son was a pain in the ass, this guy was much worse.

Lisbon smiled warmly at the tall agent as the large man made his way to the exit, knowing how difficult the man in the wheelchair could be when he chose to be.

"You sure?"

Lisbon hesitated briefly for a few seconds wondering if being alone with the man who hypnotised her was a sensible idea. Looking at the old broken man in the recliner chair she decide she would be safe and believed he wouldn't ever attempt anything like that again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Trust me he's not in any fit state to do anything, even if he wanted to."

Alex attempted for the third time to stand up from his wheelchair, groaning in pain and clutching his ribs as he tried to stand. Lisbon shook her head at his utter stubbornness before coming over to help him up by the arm and assisting him to the recliner chair in front of the TV.

"So, okay. Let's get this over with. Where is he?" Alex snapped sharply wincing in pain as he sat down in the chair.

Lisbon frowned as she saw real fear fall across the older man's face as his eyes scanned round the room anxiously for someone else to appear.

"Oh, come on. I am not an idiot, Teresa. I may be an old fool but I haven't completely lost all my senses. You bring me here and not to the prison. So where is he? Or is he going to break in later and strangle the life out of me instead?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. Alex was under the impression he was back in Texas to be bumped off and she was assisting with the crime. "Alex, listen to me. Patrick is half way across the state right now working a case. He doesn't know you are here. I promise you nothing is going to happen to you," Lisbon assured him gently, placing a calming hand on his and letting her father in law know he was safe.

"So why I am here? I don't understand."

Lisbon moved her hand away as she quickly slipped back into their old father and daughter act. She moved back to sit on the sofa to explain fully what was happening. "I have gotten permission for you to serve the rest of your sentence here at home. I know about the cancer, Alex," she told him softly. "You will be under house arrest from now on."

Alex's eyes widened before narrowing in suspicion. Lisbon could see he was still wary about what was going on so pulled something from her handbag. "This is an ankle tag bracelet." Lisbon passed the black object over. Alex took it from her to examine. "It will monitor your every move. If you step 50 yards away from this property it will alert the FBI and local PD where you are and you will be arrested. If you attempt to run you will be taken back to federal prison. If you try to break it off or tamper with it or take it off in anyway, you will also be returned to prison. Do you understand?"

Alex nodded, still looking a little stunned by this new development. He knew there would be some sort of catch. Nothing in this world is for free. "Okay, so if I do this, what's the catch?"

Lisbon couldn't help but give a smile. Like father like son, nothing gets past them. "You have to agree to receive regular treatment for your cancer. Effective immediately," Lisbon told him, seeing him flinch at the word cancer. It was quite clear Alex Jane had been living in some sort of denial over his illness but he needed to start facing it.

"And that's it?"

"That's it. You will serve your time here under house arrest and start your treatment."

Alex sighed, stunned by this change of events. He wasn't sure if he was in some sort of dream and was about to wake up at any minute. Whilst he hadn't wanted to deal with his cancer before, he couldn't help but recognise that this was a win-win situation for him. No prison cell and the comfort of the one and only place that had felt like home since he lost his wife. Where was the down side?

"And if I agree to this, I get to stay here. In Texas. In this house… with you?" he asked, his voice rising slightly in hope at his last statement.

Lisbon rolled her eyes as her father in law pushed his luck. "No. I won't be living here, Al." The smile on the man's face quickly faltered. "But you will have a homecare nurse who will visit and also take you to the hospital for your treatment when it's due."

"Right," Alex replied, disappointed but nodding in understanding that she wouldn't be there with him like she had been before.

"But I will pop by regularly, make sure you're behaving yourself," Lisbon added, smiling warmly and watching as the older man's smile grew back again at this news.

"You will?"

The tears welled up in Alex's eyes, letting her know how much her kindness and forgiveness meant to him. Whilst he knew he still had a lot to make up for he was generally feeling overwhelmed with emotion by what she was doing for him when he least deserved it. That after everything that had happened this kind caring woman still cared and wanted to help him, even when the inevitable outcome of his life was pretty bleak. No one had ever done that for him or ever given him a second chance, not since his wife.

Not wanting to let it become a sob fest or to show her own overwhelming emotions Lisbon inhaled a deep breath and continued to explain the new set up. "I have got you some food in but Shane will-"

"Shane? Who's Shane?" Alex interrupted, quickly wiping away a tear that had fallen from his eyes and back in control of his emotions once more.

"Shane McCarthy. He is going to be your personal care nurse." Hearing this news quickly sobered Alex up from his sentimental show of emotion. "A man!" he yelled, disgruntled as his daughter in law made her way out to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"Yes, Alex. A man." Lisbon giggled, seeing the absolute horror upon Alex's face at finding out his nurse would be of the male species. "Men can be nurses these days too, you know?" she added playfully.

"Can't I request a woman? It would make bed baths more enjoyable."

"No." She couldn't help but smirk when Alex huffed out a childish sigh in a sulk. Lisbon took the ankle tag and began to operate it when Alex spoke. "Why are you doing all this? I don't deserve it."

"No you're right, you don't," she told him, still focusing on the device and not him. "But you're still family," she added in a softer tone, finally looking up at him.

Alex's eyes welled up again and he quickly tried to hide it. "Thank you, Teresa. I won't let you down. I promise," he said, his voice breaking before swallowing down his tears and trying make his voice sound manlier and gruff.

Lisbon bent down to place the device around his ankle making sure it was tightly secured. "Make sure you don't. Patrick thinks you will do a runner the minute I leave here but I believe you won't," Lisbon answered, standing up and looking down at her father in law with hope. "Don't prove me wrong, Al."

"I won't," he told her with real sincerity to his answer. He wouldn't let down, not this time.

As she stood up Al grabbed her small hand giving it a tight squeeze and bringing it tightly into his. They shared a small moment of holding hands and Lisbon was stunned by how easy it was to fall back to their old ways after everything that had happened. Although she couldn't be totally shocked by it, it was exactly the same thing with his son and they had been doing that for years.

"I have to head back to the office but I will pop by later see how you are getting on. Shane will be by at 4pm. He has a key so he can let himself in. There is food in the cupboards but just try and relax until he arrives. You are not in any fit state right now to be walking around so try not to overdo it."

"I am fine, woman." Alex waved a dismissive hand towards her fussing. As Lisbon reached the front door, Alex called out, making her pause. "Oh, congratulations by the way, sweetheart. Glad to see you two kissed and made up."

Lisbon frowned, stepping back into the living room curious to know how Alex knew her and Jane were working things out.

"The bun in oven is a big give away," he answered explaining how he knew. Al had his full attention on the TV remote and trying to adjust the recliner position, unaware of the bombshell he had just dropped.

Lisbon stood swaying as the words swirled around her head. Pregnant? Pregnant? What? When? How? Alex had to be wrong. She was on the contraceptive pill and hadn't missed taking any. Alex was still unaware of the shock Teresa was now in and continued waffling on whilst trying to find a Sports Channel. "This day just keeps getting better. Out of that dump. I'm back home and serving the rest of my sentence here in Texas and now this. I mean I can't believe I am going to be grandpa, I barely look old enough to be someone's father, wouldn't you agree- "

Al laughed at his own joke, finally turning to see that his daughter in law had gone deathly pale in colour, glancing down at her own little swollen belly and then back up at him open mouthed. He groaned rolling his eyes skyward, realising he had put his massive size elevens in his mouth as per usual.

* * *

"Okay Cho, so let's drop the act shall we? You've dragged me halfway up the State to interview an old employee of Intech Ltd, which, to be honest, there are no leads to even have this guy as a suspect in my opinion. Now you're now buying me lunch, so I am going to hazard a guess you're either going to admit your secret undying love for me after all these years or there is another reason you are keeping me away from the office this afternoon?" Jane said confidently, taking a long sip of his tea and knowing full well something was up with this scenario.

They had travelled up to Dallas earlier that morning to conduct an interview on what was a very weak lead in the Austin serial killer case, with Cho's insistence he and Jane go. Now the supervising agent had offered to buy them lunch at the local diner whilst taking them on a scenic route to get there.

Cho sighed, knowing the game was up and might as well confess the truth. "Fine. Lisbon asked me to keep you out of office for the afternoon," he told the consultant, laying all the cards on the table.

"Alex," Jane responded, taking another sip of his tea whilst the diner waitress brought over their lunches. Once the woman had moved away Jane spoke again. "So that no good loser has arrived in Texas then, has he?"

"I am surprised you never figured it out sooner," Cho said biting into his cheeseburger.

"Yeah, well, I have had other things on my mind," Jane replied sharply. They sat eating the rest of their lunches in uncomfortable silence. Jane remained tight lipped, not saying anymore on the subject and he didn't ask any questions to Cho about Alex transfer. Cho finished his lunch first and sat back against the leather booth watching as the consultant sat in deep thought sipping on his tea.

Eventually breaking the silence between them, Cho spoke. "So how long will this continue on for?" Getting straight down the point as always.

"How long is what going to continue?" Jane wiped his mouth using his napkin, guessing where this conversation was going to lead but not allowing it to be that easy.

"You and Lisbon, doing what you normally do when things get tough and difficult. No communication. Both shying away and burying your heads in the sand. Pretending not to notice the giant pink elephant in the room with you names on it."

Jane studied the agent over the rim of his cup for a few moments. "Since when did the FBI appoint you as their marriage guidance counsellor?" he asked sarcastically.

"Just concerned for my friends," Cho stated, not phased or thrown by his sarcastic remark.

Jane slowly grinned. "Ah, I see. This is all part of the new hands on team leader Cho approach you are now trying to apply," he said chuckling. "You know, Kimball, what happened to Lisbon and Wylie wasn't your fault. You are a very good boss so you don't need to do this. I knew something was up when you took Tork out to lunch on Tuesday and endured a dodgy taco from that dubious looking food truck he goes to downtown." Jane's grin widened, seeing Cho reliving that particular food choice again before turning his tone more serious. "Thing is, there's being a caring involved team leader, Cho, and then there's just unwanted interference. We are perfectly fine." Jane returned to sipping his tea, hoping he had made his point clear and that Cho would drop the subject of his marriage.

"Really? Because Lisbon moved back in over a week ago and you have slept on the couch in the office ever since apparently."

Jane did a small double take at the stoic agent opposite, a little stunned that he knew this information. More to the point, how did he know? He had made sure there was no one areound to see him in the office. Jane knew his wife would never expose their marriage problems so there was only one other option it could be.

"Grace." Jane sighed heavily as his brain clicked. If there was anyone Lisbon would talk to it would be her and she would no doubt tell Rigsby, who in turn would confide in Cho if he was probed. "They don't have any secrets, do they?" Jane snipped at how even though they no longer worked together, nothing within the old team ever seemed to be kept secret.

"No, they actually communicate in their marriage," Cho retorted coldly in reply to the consultant.

Jane narrowed his eyes in irritation, much preferring the old stoic Cho he once knew. The Cho who didn't get personally involved with his team's private lives. "For your information, Kimball, I have been working this case with you and the rest of the team which is why I haven't been home much and I just feel asleep on the couch exhausted. That's all."

"You need to sort this out. I know you're upset with her request to move you father here to Texas and I get why, but you can't let this ruin what you and Lisbon have," Cho told him firmly, not holding back any punches. "If you are worried about Lisbon's welfare and safety I can make sure there is always someone else always present whenever she visits Alex."

"No, no, don't do that." Jane relented, knowing Lisbon wouldn't allow herself to be babysat and would be even more likely to go against it if she knew he had asked or been involved for that request.

"Okay. So what's the issue then?"

Jane remained silent, looking out the diner window and watching the steady flow of traffic drive by. Cho took an opportunity to try and read the man and second guess what might be worrying his consultant about his father's return despite the obvious reasons.

"You know there was never anything between them. Alex and Lisbon. They were never- "

"I know, I know that." Jane said reassuringly. He sighed. He wasn't one for sharing his feelings but Cho was an old friend and since his breakdown he had learned that he needed to share more and be more open. Jane inhaled before continuing, "Just I've never had her…"

"Choose someone over you," Cho finished as Jane words died off. Seeing his words have an effect on the consultant and was one of the reasons for Jane's unrest, Cho softened his tone. "She didn't choose Alex over you, Jane. She is just trying to make the man's last few months on this earth a better one."

"That man doesn't deserve that kind of kindness or understanding. Not after what he did," Jane snapped, not liking that Cho had read him so well. Master of disguise was losing his touch and it unnerved him.

"No. I agree… but some would have said the same thing about you once upon a time," Cho added. "But it's Lisbon. It's who she is and why you love her. Besides, I learned a long time ago she always had a soft spot for a Jane, no matter what they seem to do." Cho gave a small knowing smile as the consultant eventually returned the same gesture. They didn't call his wife Saint Teresa for nothing after all and he knew that better than anyone, especially after everything he had done in his lifetime.

"Come on, drink up. Let's head back to Austin," Cho stood up and threw some money down on the table covering the lunch. Both men made their way through the busy diner and out to the carpark. As they approached the SUV, Cho spoke, looking at Jane from across the bonnet of the car. "Oh and stop sleeping on the couch. You have a wife and comfy bed at home waiting for you," he ordered firmly.

Hearing the slight hint of envy and annoyance in the man's tone, Jane smirked as they climbed in the vehicle. "Still no love life, huh?"

"That's none of your business."

Jane let out a heavy chuckle at the irony of Cho's words. "Oh, so this new sharing, caring, hands on boss approach doesn't work both ways then? Well, that seems a tad unfair, Kimball," Jane quipped playfully as the agent shot him a deadly glare and started the engine.

* * *

Andrews exited the elevator to the busy bullpen instantly seeing Lisbon had returned from the prison transfer. Making sure Jane's couch was empty behind her he made his way over to her desk. "Hey, Lisbon. How's it going?" Andrews waited as Lisbon stared at her screen looking rather pale. "Lisbon? You okay?"

Eventually hearing the sound of a voice and realising someone was watching her, Lisbon spun round to see Andrews looking at her with concern. She quickly shut down the window on the PC and focused on her colleague, pretending all was fine. "Huh? What?"

"I said, are you okay?" Andrews' eyes studied her face, clearly concerned something had happened with her father in law.

"Who me? Yes I am… I'm… fine," Lisbon answered, trying to get her head together. She glanced down to her stomach and touched it gently unconsciously. She was still reeling in shock from Alex's pregnancy theory. She had picked up a pregnancy test on her way to the office but hadn't plucked up the courage to take it yet. She was so sure she wasn't pregnant but she couldn't help notice her belly did look a little swollen and remembered her last period hadn't been very heavy and only lasted two days. But she had a period so how could she be pregnant? Unfortunately doing her own search on Google had proved that some women still bleed whilst pregnant and now she was really starting to wonder if maybe Alex was right and she was in the family way.

Andrews perched himself on her desk, seeing that the colour had returned to Lisbon's face and was happy to see she was okay. "So, Cho has asked me to attend the FBI fund raising gala. He says it will be good for the department to show our faces. Are you going?"

"Yes, unfortunately, he also cornered me when I was distracted yesterday," Lisbon grumbled. "I agreed to go and help network with the big wigs. But I suppose I owe Cho a few, he did attend many boring events for me back in the CBI days," Lisbon added, knowing this was definitely pay back from when she was once boss and ordering the team to attend many boring CBI events on her behalf.

Andrews smiled, overjoyed to see she would be attending but it dropped somewhat when he asked his next question. "Will Jane be attending?"

Lisbon blushed a little in embarrassment, remembering how Jane had point blank refused to attend when Cho had asked him. "Uh, no. I think his exact words were he would rather play with the downtown traffic and then chop his own leg off than attend that bureaucratic sham of a night disguised as a charity event."

"Not a fan of these sorts of events then, is he?"

"No, not unless he is the centre of attention… and I find it's best he's not. Free champagne, government senators, FBI top bosses and Patrick Jane don't mix well."

Andrew chuckled, imagining just how bad the consultant would be in that environment and knowing this woman was clearly speaking for experince. "Well if you need a ride or-"

"Oh, well Cho already offered to pick me up but thank you," Lisbon said swiftly shooting him down. Whilst he knew she was married and that Jane was back in her life she also knew Andrews' feelings for her hadn't changed. He had never made a move but he hadn't hidden the fact he liked her and the last thing she needed was to encourage him.

"Damn it."

The sound of Agent Pullman's yell broke the moment between the two of them, which Lisbon was grateful for. "Everything okay?" Lisbon asked, slowly making her way over to the young woman sitting at Wylie's old desk.

"This CCTV footage shows us nothing." Lily huffed, throwing her pen heavily down on the desk in frustration. "Nearly seven hundred hours' worth of mindless boring CCTV video watching cars being parked and driven out the garage and there's nothing."

"Nothing?" Andrews repeated, not liking the sound of that. They had finally worked out the killer and victim had to have exited via the underground garage, and all they needed was some footage and evidence to prove it.

"Nope. Well, except this short creepy guy who drives a blue Chrysler doing something..." Pullman paused trying to find the right words to explain. "…personal to himself when he thinks no one is around." The younger woman's face contorted in disgust, not wanting to ever think about that part of the CCTV footage again.

Lisbon's expression also screwed up in disgust knowing exactly what the poor girl had had to watch. Unfortunately, part of being in law enforcement meant you had to witness and do things you never wanted to. "What about the night of the murder? Is there nothing at all?" Lisbon asked, not believing this giant lead was totally dead.

"Last employee leaves the garage at 9:45pm and our victim was still in the bar at this point. Between 10pm and 5am not one thing or activity shows up on the CCTV cameras on the night of the murder. No persons enter the garage and no cars enter or leave either."

"But the bar stairway only leads to the under garage, they had to have left through there," Andrews added, hating the fact that every time they got a great lead they were hit with six dead ends.

"Well according to this footage they didn't..." Pullman's words trailed off as she leaned towards the PC screen and quickly began typing on the keyboard again. "Unless…."

"Unless?"

"Unless someone has tampered with the CCTV footage." Pullman's eyes lit up as she realised that actually may be the answer to why the times and CCTV footage didn't show up anything.

"Can you check?"

"Uh… no." Pullman flushed pink at Andrews' question. Whilst she praised herself on her IT skills she wasn't an IT whizz like Wylie was, unfortunately as she was still training on certain areas.

"Wylie could do it," Tork said, piping up from behind the three of them, taking a break from getting his ass kicked at the Words With Friends game he was playing online. "He has a secret passion for film making and editing films," he told his three curious colleagues.

"He does?"

"Yeah, he asked me to star in one of his homemade films once, well, you know before he went all crazy and stuff." Lisbon rolled her eyes at Tork's ability to say the wrong thing constantly when he spoke out loud. "He was making a film for a friend for his birthday and he needed people to help out and play some characters. It was fun." Tork beamed a big smile at the team staring blankly back at him.

"So what did you do?" Andrews enquired, very curious to know what Wylie had Tork doing in this homemade film. And immediately thinking of the more sordid type of homemade film.

"I played Captain Kirk."

"You played Captain Kirk?" Lisbon replied, trying not to giggle at this piece of news. Out of anyone to play the lead man Tork didn't instantly spring to mine for her.

Seeing all three of team mates snigger at his answer, Tork dropped his proud smug demeanour. "Yes, and I did a bloody good job too. Beam me up, Scottie." He said in a broad Scottish accent.

"That's Sean Connery." Andrews corrected, laughing at the man's mess up.

"Huh?"

"Okay great," Pullman said, clapping her hands together in glee and changing the subject back to the case and Wylie. "So all we need is to get Wylie to come in and he can find out whether or not this footage has been tampered with. Simple."

"I don't think that will happen. He won't come in. Cho has tried asking," Tork piped in again as he began searching a pocket size dictionary for words beginning with ZE.

"Fine, well if the Mohammed won't come to mountain then the mountain will have to go to him," Pullman replied back determinedly. She quickly grabbed her stuff up from the desk, not about to let Wylie's fear of returning to work and allowing another dead end to stop this case from progressing. They needed him and Wylie needed to step up and be part of the team once again and she was going to make him.

Tork looked blankly between Lisbon and Andrews, confused as Pullman stormed off towards the elevator on a mission. "Who's Mohammed?" Tork asked, clueless once again. Whilst Tork wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, he was a good agent in the field and in handling a firearm and, when he put his mind and attention skills to it, a good detective. He did bring a childish light side to the team and always made them laugh or smile on a regular basis even when he wasn't trying to be funny.

"Feisty little thing when she wants to be. Isn't she?" Andrews chuckled, making his way to his desk as the little blonde IT tech Agent disappeared from sight into the elevator and impress by her can do attitude. Lisbon nodded in agreement also impressed by Pullman's determination before heading back to her desk. She knew she would have to take the pregnancy test sitting secretly away in her top drawer eventually.

Maybe she'd wait till she got home to do it. A few more hours wouldn't hurt and she was 90% sure that she wasn't pregnant. She would know if she was. Wouldn't she?


	15. Chapter 15

_**So here's a quicker update for you all this time. I manage to get a chapter written over the Easter holiday, even with a busy schedule and all the family around me. (More of filler chapter but hope you still enjoy it.)**_

 _ **Thank you for the reviews and the new follows too. I know I should reply back to all your reviews but I have got so far behind but I thank you so much for taking the time to leave me your comments. Means a lot to know that people are still reading my story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't the Mentalist. I just like playing around with the characters :)**_

* * *

"Okay, okay, keep your hair on," Wylie grumbled as he approached his front door as the constant knocking persisted. He flustered with the chain lock before opening the door to be greeted by a small blonde woman he had never seen before. She was dressed a black pant suit, wearing dark square rimmed glasses with her bright sunshine hair pulled up into a neat bun on her head. Without invitation, the small blonde purposely stepped past him. "Oh good, you're home."

Wylie stood silently, stunned as he watched the small blonde enter his apartment and begin picking up his personal things as she made her way over to the main living area.

"Uh, can I help you?" Wylie asked the unknown female, shutting his door so his nosey next door neighbour couldn't see what was going on. "And, may I ask who you are?" he added, a tad more sharply, becoming increasingly irritated by the woman's over bearing presence.

"Oh, sorry. Hi, I am Lily… Lily Pullman." The small blonde held out her hand but Wylie just stared at her like she had grown a second head. "Agent Lily Pullman. I am currently covering for you whilst you're off… sick." She raised an eyebrow at him, not totally convinced by that statement. "I normally work up in Business Fraud and Corruption but I was promoted by Supervising Agent Cho when you went off sick," she explained.

"Well, Lily, this isn't a great time for me, I am in the middle of…"

"Call of Duty?"

Lily picked up the game controller from the coffee table looking unimpressed by his choice of past time. "And I thought it was only 15-year-old boys who played this." Wylie inhaled a deep calming breath as the stranger attacked his favourite game and hobby. Wasn't very often Wylie met someone that really irritated him but Lily Pullman was definitely one of them.

"Is there a reason you have barged into my home to insult me? Or do you just make a habit of doing this with your colleagues?" Wylie folded his arms defensively but stayed standing. "How did you even get my home address, anyway?"

"I hacked into the FBI personnel database."

"Wow," Wylie mumbled, not sure if he was impressed the woman had managed to hack past all the FBI security firewalls or be slightly worried by it.

"Basically we've hit another dead end on the serial killer case. Innotech, that's the software company who owned the underground car garage, have finally handed over the CCTV footage but after days and days of me trailing through some of the most boring video I have ever watched...oh, except for the new Star Wars movie that is. That was two hours of my life I'm not getting back-" Unfortunately for Lily that was the wrong thing to say to one of the biggest and hard-core Star Wars fans.

"What! Are you kidding me?" Wylie quickly snatched one of his books from her grasp.

"No, I am not kidding. It was really the most boring CCTV footage I've ever watched. Endless hours of cars being parked and- "

"No, not the CCTV, I mean about the new Star Wars movie?" Wylie spat, frowning in horror at how she couldn't have liked it. Pullman sat down on the couch, not fazed or bothered by his outrage.

"Yeah. I didn't really enjoy it. I mean, I never really understood the whole hype with that franchise anyway and the only reason I even saw it was because I was on a blind date with this guy and he wanted to see it," Lily waffled idly on, not taking any notice of Wylie who was clearly wounded and offended by her remarks.

"…who, by the way, had the worst breath. It was like he had swallowed a whole garlic clove. My sister set the date up. She claims I never date and am always working, so I went along to shut her up, but it was an absolute nightmare. He kept trying to put his hand on my ass, I mean, who does that on a first date? And then we had that awful moment where he tried to kiss me at the end of night but trust me when I say, if I was a vampire, I would have been a goner. So that didn't happen…-"

"You talk a lot," Wylie told the young woman, interrupting her useless chitchat, eyeing her like she was something that had appeared from another planet.

"Do I? Huh? My mom says I talk a lot too and Agent Tork says I talk a lot but I don't think I do. Mom also says I am nosey too. Hey, that's probably why I wanted to become a FBI agent, always asking questions and prying into other's lives. I graduated from the Academy last year and my trainer there said I talk a lot too...-"

Wylie rolled his eyes in full agreement with Lily's mom and her trainer. "You don't say," he jibed quietly. For the record, you not liking Star Wars is just weird. It's a movie classic," Wylie added, not quite believing anyone on this planet could actually hate his beloved Star Wars.

"Me? Weird? Coming from the man who locks himself in his apartment twenty-four seven watching Star Trek and playing boys' video games all because he is too scared to come back to work."

"I am not scared."

"No? Seems that way to me. Look, Jason, I know you've had a hard time with losing your girlfriend and all that business but you have to come back to work eventually, so why not now is what I say?"

Wylie's defences immediately went up at the mention of Vega's death and he purposely strode to the front door making it clear the agent had overstayed her welcome. He wasn't about to discuss his personal issues with someone he hadn't even met before, and especially not with one who had just insulted his favourite movie. "You don't know anything about it. I need time- "

"For what? Video games? And watching spaceships blow each other up?"

"No offence, Lily, but it's is none of your business, so if you don't mind... I am busy." Wylie held his arm out letting her know he wanted her to leave. Immediately. Lily sighed in defeat, grabbing her handbag. Reaching the front door, she came a step closer, practically invading Wylie's personal space. He attempted to step backwards but was met by the door behind him.

"Not a fan of the tough love act, huh? Okay, let me try this again." Lily changed to a softer, more approachable, tone of voice. "Agent Wylie, I really need your help and you are the best FBI IT technician in Austin. Hey, you're the best IT technician in the state of Texas. We really need to catch this psycho. The team needs your help to do that. Please. I am begging you. I can't do this alone."

Wylie swallowed, noticing how close they were now standing opposite each other and for some strange reason felt his heart rate pick up slightly.

"Please come back to the office with me. For the team. We need you. If you come back, I promise I will shut up." Pullman grinned, raising her eyebrows in anticipation, hoping he would take her up on the offer. Wylie quietly studied the young woman's face. For the first time since she barged her way into his home he noticed just how crystal blue her eyes were when they sparkled in the right light. The same blue eyes now pleading with him to come back to work with her.

He wasn't sure why but her words and her plea hit home to him and he knew it was time to face going back to the FBI. "Ok, just give me 10 minutes to get changed," he told her somewhat submissively before walking off to his bedroom.

Pullman's eyes widened in absolute delight once he had left the room, not quite believing she had actually managed to convince the man to return to work. She thought she had totally blown it, especially after offending his precious Star Wars but clearly she had more persuasive skills in her then she realised. She smiled, extremely pleased with herself and re-taking a seat back on the couch whilst she waited for Wylie to get dressed.

* * *

The sound of the cabin door opening made Lisbon step out of the kitchen to investigate. When she reached the doorway she saw it was her husband at the other end of the house, quietly removing his suit jacket and picking up some unopened mail left on the side table.

"You're home?" she said, surprised to see Jane home so early. She knew he had been purposely spending nights at the office and, when he did venture home it was always gone past midnight, knowing she would have retired to bed exhausted by then.

Jane dropped the unimportant mail down smiling sweetly over at her. "Thought it was time to take a break from working the case." He moved into the large living area as Lisbon mirrored the same action. "And I wanted to see you," he added.

Lisbon returned the smile, touched by his honesty. She took a seat on one of the leather chairs whilst Jane poured himself out a neat whiskey, needing one after the long car journey back to Austin. "So, how did it go today? Lisbon asked cheerfully. "Any new leads we can follow up?"

"Well, it was a dead end to be honest but you know that, right?" Jane raised a questionable eyebrow at her as he sat down on the couch opposite, watching Lisbon bite her bottom lip at being caught out.

"It wasn't like that," she told him softly.

"No?"

Lisbon sighed, knowing she was going to have to sweet talk her way out of this one. "It was a genuine lead, Jane, that needed following, I just asked Cho to take you along instead of Tork. That's all."

"You could have just told me he was being transferred here today, you didn't need me to send half way across the State," he told her with obvious disappointment laced in his tone.

"I wanted to tell you but I was worried…" Lisbon paused. "I was worried what you would do."

Jane sipped on his drink and refrained from rolling his eyes at her. "What did you think I would do, Teresa? In a building full of law enforcement officers. Huh?"

"Well, I don't know to be honest, but can you blame me? You've already kidnapped the man and I thought you might do something a lot worse and I didn't want…" The words quickly died in her throat as she didn't want to say them out loud. Jane stared at his wife, knowing what she thought he may do to his father, especially after everything he had done.

"I wouldn't do that. He isn't worth it."

"Wouldn't you?" She knew what happened with Red John was totally different but there was always this nagging question in the back of her head over it all. Always the fear the old Jane would one day return.

"No, I wouldn't, Teresa. I think I proved that to you back in Nevada. Didn't I?"

She couldn't argue with that point, he had. Lisbon dipped her head, suddenly feeling a little ashamed she always jumped to the worst conclusions. They sat in silence for a few minutes letting the tension simmer down between them.

"So, what now?" Jane poured himself another drink now they were on the subject of discussing his father, needing the alcohol to calm him somewhat.

"Well, now he spends the rest of his sentence under house arrest. He knows the rules and the conditions. If he breaks any of them he will be returned to a maximum security state prison."

"You really don't believe he will run, do you?" Jane asked, studying his wife's face and reading her reactions. It shocked Jane how naïve she was when it came to the likes of his father. "You don't think he is over there right now, planning an escape? Trust me, Teresa, he is. He will run the first chance he gets. I know him."

It was Lisbon's turn to roll her eyes and sigh. Whilst she may always jump to bad conclusions in some matters, he always believed her to be naïve and a gullible rookie for some reason.

"You haven't been in the man's life for over 28 years, Jane. You don't know him and no, I don't believe he will run. Alex had his chance to run, take the money and he didn't. In fact, he handed himself in to the police, remember?" she snapped. "No one made him do that. Besides, Alex is in no fit state to run anywhere right now," she added, ending her point on the matter.

"Yeah, well Teresa, that may be true but you wait till he's feeling better and up on his feet again, then we will see," Jane told her coldly, sipping on his drink some more.

Deciding this was the time to face the main concern, Lisbon inhaled a breath for courage. "I want you to promise me you will stay away from Alex. I want you to promise you won't do anything stupid." She pleaded, letting him know she had real concerns and couldn't lose him again. "Please, Jane."

Jane nodded, agreeing to her terms. "Fine. I promise I won't go near him or the house. Okay." Lisbon exhaled the breath she was holding in, relieved he had agreed so easily to her request. "But you have to promise me something in return. I don't want you going to see him alone." Jane held her stare showing her he was deadly serious. "Teresa, I don't understand why you want that loser back in your life or why you have forgiven him for what he did to you but I also know I can't stop you either, but if you want me to keep away then you need to promise me to have someone there with you at all times. I think that's a fair compromise, don't you?"

She wasn't overly happy at having to be baby sat but she understood why he would want that for her own safety. "Fine. I promise. I will only visit him when Shane is around. Happy?" She couldn't help but smirk a little when Jane looked at her, baffled, exactly the same way his father had. Whilst father and son had a hate hate relationship with each other, it was very uncanny how much alike they were in mannerisms and character. "Who's Shane?"

"Shane is a care nurse. He will be staying with Alex for a few weeks until he gets back on his feet and can fend for himself again."

Jane's eyes widened before he shook his head and knocked back the whiskey in one, in an attempt to soothe the anger building up in him. "Wow, a get out of jail free card and his own personal slave. Why don't you just invite him along to FBI gala night and give him access to our savings account while you at it," Jane remarked snidely, unable to believe just how great things were going for Alexander Jane since his transfer to Texas.

Lisbon stood up, making her way out the living area, not wanting to fight with him about this matter. It seemed that was all they did lately was argue. "I am going to bed. I feel tired," she told him. "No doubt you will be spending the night on the couch again anyway, you seem to prefer it these days," she shot back coldly before turning and walking away leaving Jane sitting alone.

Once Lisbon was out of sight he groaned, running his hand down his face and knowing he hadn't handled that situation very well. The sound of Lisbon shutting the bedroom door firmly echoed from down the hall. His deep rooted anger and hatred for father was affecting his relationship with his wife but he just couldn't shift the resentment he felt. With her helping and caring for the man, it was making him feel a hundred times worse. He leaned back against the leather couch, staring up at the wooden ceiling above him. He needed to get over this and move on, he had to learn to accept his wife's choice in letting his father back into her life. He had to. For all their sakes.

* * *

Lisbon nervously bit at her nails as the tall grey haired doctor scanned the file she was reading. Unable to take the tension that was building and cutting the silence in the room, Lisbon spoke. "So…?"

"Yes, yes, I can confirm the test results have returned positive and you are pregnant, Agent Lisbon. Over 14 weeks if these results are reading right," the doctor continued, a little shocked that the agent hadn't been to see her earlier with regards to the matter. The doctor sat at her desk reading the papers and studying the blood and urine tests Lisbon had given an hour earlier. Eventually Doctor Simms looked up and smiled warmly at the brunette.

It was common knowledge throughout the FBI who Patrick Jane was and what his sad tragic history was so to know the couple were expecting their first child felt like an amazing turning point and the doctor couldn't help be feel happy for them both. "Congratulations, Agent. You must be delighted."

"But I don't understand, how- how can I be pregnant? I am on the pill?" Lisbon shifted uncomfortably in her chair, suddenly feeling hot under the collar and as though the walls were closing in on her.

"Well, there could be many factors." The doctor quickly flicked back through Lisbon's medical records trying to see what contraception she was currently on and why it may not have worked. "Are you taking any other medication at the moment?" The doctor questioned, scanning the papers.

Lisbon blushed slightly in embarrassment, knowing she had certainly been taking other medication, never having thought about how they would affect her pill. "I sometimes take sleeping tablets when I can't sleep," she confessed.

"Ah, yes, I see and you were on anti-depressants for a while too from your records. Both of these could affect the performance of your contraception." The doctor smiled at the agent, hoping this would be a satisfactory explanation for her. By the stunned expression on the brunette's face it was very clear that this pregnancy hadn't been planned. "It happens a lot more then you think. Agent Lisbon, would you like me to call your husband?" Doctor Simms asked out of concern, seeing the agent was breathing heavier and gone a little pale in color.

Lisbon shook herself out of her current panicked state and quickly regained her composure. "No. No, I am fine. It's just unexpected, that's all."

"If you will take a seat in the waiting area, Agent Lisbon, I will get your records together and book you in for a scan at the local ante-natal unit. I won't be long."

Lisbon nodded and moved out of the examination room before taking a seat in the small waiting area, grateful to have something solid underneath her. She was pregnant. Pregnant! Very pregnant. How could she not have seen or noticed this fact before now? She was a detective for Christ's sakes, and a bloody good one too.

Someone sat down on the chair beside her, drawing her attention back to the waiting room. Lisbon looked over to see that it was Jane. "What are you doing here?" she said, stunned to see him in the FBI medical unit.

"Lily told me you were up here." He gently reached into his inside jacket pocket making sure the other agents waiting in the medical unit weren't watching. "And I found this in our trash can." Lisbon saw the pregnancy test that she had taken earlier that morning sitting in the palm of his hand. He smiled lovingly at her, seeing the worry etched on her face.

"I was going to tell you, after seeing Doctor Simms…"

"It's fine," he told her, understanding why she hadn't said anything. "Besides, I already knew. Just been waiting for you to catch on," he added grinning at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't one hundred percent sure, I am no doctor after all, but some of the obvious signs were there. I have been down this road once before, remember?"

Lisbon briefly glanced away, feeling annoyed by Jane's explanation and trying to control her emotions. "Since when?"

"Well… about four weeks. You seemed- "

"Four weeks? And you didn't think fit to say anything to me? I've been walking around not knowing and you didn't tell me," she snapped, catching the attention of another FBI agent who was sitting nearby reading the latest copy of Cosmo.

"You've had a lot going on and I didn't want to shock you with it. Plus, you've been focusing all your attention on getting my father out of jail, I didn't- "

"Is this what this is all about? You're jealous of me helping your father?" It was the first time she had clicked onto the real reason for his upset over Alex's transfer. Whilst he was concerned for her safety he also didn't like it that someone else was taking her attention.

"No," Jane replied in high voice and a little louder than he wanted. "I am not jealous." He sighed when he saw the receptionist and a few other agents waiting had now looked up, watching the couple with curiosity. He lowered his voice to a low whisper. "Can we just call a truce? Please. This should be the happiest day of lives, not bickering over my god damn father."

He gently took hold of her hand rubbing his thumb soothingly across her knuckles in calming gestures. He had wanted to take her in his arms the minute he had sat down but he had refrained himself knowing there were others watching. He could tell the unexpected pregnancy was a shock and knew she was going to start freaking out once it really hit her so he needed them to be working together, not fighting with one another.

"Yeah, you're right, I am sorry." She smiled lovingly at him knowing she was taking her own frustrations about her lack of awareness out on him and was sick of them being angry and avoiding each other as they had been. She placed her hand on top of his, grateful that he was there with her now the news of the pregnancy was starting to slowly seep in for her.

"So, what did the doctor say?" Jane returned to a more cheerful tone, unable to hide his excitement. Unlike Lisbon he had had nearly four weeks to get his head around the idea of them having a baby and he had been itching to be able to talk about it with her openly.

"Well, I'm 14 weeks, but then you know probably already knew that."

"Well, I don't need to be Stephen Hawking to do the math," Jane grinned, knowing exactly when the pregnancy had happened. It was certainly a memory he had revisited over and over in his memory palace, especially when his newly revived libido started playing up at night. Lisbon's cheeks flushed pink as the memory of their first night together came flooding back to her. Jane's grin widened, knowing exactly what she was now thinking about. "The doctor is booking me an appointment for a scan next week," she told him, changing the subject before he could tease her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You wanna come?" She smiled, knowing exactly what his answer would be to that question.

"Just try stopping me."

Deciding to live dangerously, he leaned over the armrest of the chair placing a soft kiss to her lips, grateful that she didn't shy away in front of other agents. "How about we go out for dinner this weekend. Celebrate," he suggested, eventually breaking the first real kiss they had shared in weeks. "We can spend some quality time together and celebrate the news of our new addition," he added, before moving his hand and placing it over her stomach, wanting to openly acknowledge and touch his unborn baby for the first time.

Lisbon smiled at his gesture, moving her hand over his, also acknowledging her baby for the first time. Whilst she was still in shock and a very scared to be pregnant she knew she couldn't live in denial over it. They were having a baby and she needed to start facing that fact. "Yeah, that sounds really good," she replied as happy overwhelming emotional tears pricked her eyes.

* * *

Wylie knocked lightly on the door of Cho's office, swallowing his nerves down as the supervising agent looked up from his papers. He entered the large office, shutting the door behind him and giving them some more privacy.

"Hey, Wylie. What are you doing here?"

"Uh, well, I was wondering if I could to return to the team, Boss. If that's okay with you?" Wylie sat down in the chair opposite his boss, hoping Cho wouldn't say no to his sudden unexpected request. Cho leaned back in his chair, watching the young agent across the desk. "Do you feel ready for that?" he asked, not wanting Wylie to push himself if not ready for it.

"Uh, yeah, ready as I will ever be. It's time. I need to come back."

Cho nodded in confirmation, not questioning him any further on the matter. "Ok, good." With that as the last word, Cho went back to reading his papers and Wylie smiled that he had made his return so easy and simple. He rose from the chair making his way out to the bull pen. Before he exited, Cho spoke again. "Oh, what made you want to come back?" curious over Wylie's sudden change of heart.

"Uh, well, that really annoying Agent Pullman had some part to play in it," Wylie told him, glancing over to the small blonde as she happily chatted with Tork in the fish bowl room.

Cho watched curiously as the young man stood watching the small blonde through the glass partition. Cho's amused expression made Wylie frown, confused by the lopsided smile plastered on his boss's face. Not questioning it Wylie stepped out of the office without looking where he was going and making him crash heavily into someone, sending the files flying out of their hands and down to the floor. He immediately crouched down, gathering up the papers, apologising profusely for his error. As he stood he realised it was Lisbon he had ran into.

"Lisbon!"

"Wylie!"

Quickly knowing he needed to say something to the woman with it being the first time he and Lisbon had seen each other since his public breakdown, he swallowed nervously clearing his throat "Hey, Lisbon, I, I… - "

His words were abruptly stopped as Lisbon threw her arms around him and pulled him into a big welcome back hug. To say he was shocked was an understatement, especially knowing Lisbon wasn't really a hugging type of person. "It's so good to have you back. We've missed you so much," she told him, letting him know the past was the past and he had nothing to apologise for.

Wylie blushed with overwhelming emotion at her welcoming warmth and understanding. "Thanks. I've really missed you, too."

"Hey, Wylie. You're back." Jane suddenly appeared at his side, slapping his hand down on Wylie's shoulder.

"Hey, Jane. Yep, looks that way."

"Good stuff. If you'll excuse us, I am now taking my gorgeous wife out for lunch. Come on." He quickly guided Lisbon towards the elevator passing the files she was carrying over to a nearby agent who was innocently walking past them.

"Okay, Okay, stop fussing," she told him grumpily as he ushered her into the elevator. Jane's head popped back out of the elevator doors before they shut, "Good to have you back, Wylie, it just hasn't been the same without you."

Wylie smiled as the bickering couple disappeared from his sight, happy and comforted to know that some things hadn't changed that much since he had been gone.

* * *

 _ **One week later.**_

Lisbon killed the ignition of her SUV and carefully climbed out the vehicle making sure her favourite dress wasn't trailing along on the floor. She was on her way to the FBI Gala night but she had wanted to stop by and make everything was okay with Alex beforehand. It had been over a week since his transfer and part of her just wanted to be sure he was still there and hadn't tried to run. Lisbon entered the house, shutting the red door firmly behind her. She was greeted with a deathly silence as she made her way into the living area spotting that the TV was switched off and the living areas were completely empty and surrounded in early evening darkness.

"Alex?" she called out, being met with silence. "Alex?" she repeated, much louder this time, suddenly beginning to fear that she had got it all so wrong and the man had done exactly what Jane had said he would. Run.

Suddenly a disgruntled mumble answerd back, breaking the silence of the house. "I'm in here."

Lisbon made her way down the hall, arriving at the doorway of the bedroom to find Alex Jane sitting up in bed with a face like a slapped ass. "Oh, you're in here. What's going on?"

"What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on!" Al snapped. "That… that animal put me to bed." Alex pointed his finger angrily. "He put me to bed like a god damn child." Lisbon held back a smirk as her irate father in law huffed in a sulk.

"Animal? I am guessing you mean the nurse," she enquired.

"Yes, him, that Wayne guy."

She couldn't help but feel relieved to find Alex hadn't done a runner on her and was still obeying the under house arrest rules like he promised he would. "You mean, Shane," she corrected.

"Yeah, him. He told me I needed to rest and then put me to bed like I was a four-year-old and took my wheelchair away." Alex pulled at the new blue pinstripe pyjamas Shane had obviously made him wear to bed. Lisbon remembered how when Alex had first moved in with her they had experienced a very awkward embarrassing morning where Alex forgot he didn't wear anything to sleep in.

Lisbon really tried to contain the laughter building up inside of her seeing how upset and annoyed Alex was by his situation. "Well, he's right, you do need to rest. You were stabbed only a few weeks ago, you nearly died," she told him, perching lightly on the edge of the bed. "You need to rest and let your wounds heal."

Alex rolled his eyes, not in seeing things the same way. "I am in bed at…" he paused grabbing the bedside clock to check the time. "Seven twenty-three pm, Teresa."

With that Lisbon let out a loud burst of laughter, unable to hold it in any longer and finding the whole situation highly amusing. "I can always arrange for you return to the prison infirmary if you want," she said giggling, reminding him of his other option if Shane's care wasn't suitable enough for him.

Alex narrowed his eyes, not amused she was finding his predicament so funny. "No, I guess I can live with it," he spat. The male nurse was only staying until he was up on his feet again and he definitely didn't want to return to prison, this felt like home to him and he wanted to stay. He had never served time before and for the four months he was inside he hated every single minute of it.

"So, apart from the extra early bedtimes, how are things going?"

Alex shrugged sulkily. Lisbon tilted her head, wanting more of an answer from him. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, they are… fine. Better than prison," Al confessed in a softer tone and letting go of his annoyance. "How are you? What are you all dressed up for?"

Lisbon stood up from the bed smoothing down her long pretty coral coloured dress. Apart from that one time in Miami she hadn't ever really worn it. "I'm off to a charity event for work."

"Well, you look very lovely."

"So, I went to the doctor laat week," she told him, fiddling nervously with her hands. "Looks like you were right." She lightly touched her belly, smiling at Alex and giving the game away. He was the first person she had told apart from Jane and felt a little odd about it all still. She hadn't really got her head around it. She, Teresa Lisbon, was having a baby. It felt like a dream or that she was going to wake up at any minute.

"Really? That's great news, sweetheart." Alex beamed a big goofy smile, genuinely happy for her. "I am really happy for you. You will make a great mom," he added kindly.

"You think?"

"I know."

"Thank you." They smiled warmly at each other and Alex squeezed her hand which she allowed, letting them share another reconnecting moment between them.

"Oh, hi, Agent Lisbon. I am sorry, I didn't hear the door. I was out watering the garden." With that Shane entered the bedroom carrying a glass of water and a medication bottle in his hands. "Nice to see you again, Ma'am."

Nurse Shane McCarthy was a man in his early thirties, heavily set built with big arms, wavy sandy blonde hair with a friendly gentle giant vibe to him. "Hello again, please, call me Teresa."

The younger man nodded. "Okay, as long as you call me Shane."

"Or Lucifer," Al added into the mix under his breath, eyeing the younger man in the door with contempt. Unfazed by Alex's hostility, Shane placed the medication down on the bedside table. "Here's your pain meds, Mr Jane, once you take these you will be out like light," he said brightly, ignoring the evil glares he was receiving.

"I just popped by to make sure everything is going okay," Lisbon said in more of question than a statement, hoping Alex wasn't causing Shane too many problems and making him want to quit already. To her relief Shane answered positively. "Oh, it's great. We've been getting on like a house on fire, haven't we, Mr Jane?" he answered cheerfully. Apart from a bit of moaning and groaning, Alex Jane was a piece of cake to care for compared to other house patients he had cared for in the past.

"Speak for yourself, buddy." Al turned his head, letting the pair know he didn't see it the same light. Lisbon smirked at Alex's dramatic over reaction. "Just ignore him, Shane. If he gives you any real trouble, then give me call."

"Ah, no worries, nothing I can't handle. Besides I have a grandfather who is exactly the same way," Shane lowered his tone to a whisper but knew the man in the bed could still overhear. "You know, grumpy."

Alex spluttered the water he was swallowing everywhere, coughing violently at Shane's statement. "Grumpy? Who you calling grumpy. You get stabbed in the stomach and see how grumpy you are? I will have you know-" With that Alex burst into a long winded rant towards the younger man. Both Lisbon and the nurse left the bedroom whilst Al's rants floated down the hall after them.

"Okay, well, I just popped by to see how things were going," Lisbon explained. "But you seem to have things in hand here, so I'll leave you to it." Lisbon chuckled as Shane rolled his eyes at Alex's voice droning on in the background. " I will pop by again in a few weeks."

She felt relieved that Alex was well cared for and she didn't have to worry about how he was recovering. She was also relieved that the unlikely pair were getting on the best they could under the circumstances. She was also felt extremely relieved that Alex wasn't trying to do a runner on her, well, not yet anyway.

"Good luck, Shane." She told him chuckling as she opened the front door to leave. "I think you're going to need it."


	16. Chapter 16

**_Hi all. Here's my next chapter, hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews and the new followers too I really appreciate you taking to time to read. xx_**

 _ **BE WARNED:** **This chapter is M Rated but this was stated in summary to eventually happen, if this isn't your sort thing I have highlighted it for you to avoid.**_

 _(To the anon reviewer - quite frankly, your nasty reviews on my every chapter say more about what kind of a individual you are then it does about my story and my writing. It's my fanfic, my story, my choice and I will write MY story how I want and choose too. I do this for a bit of fun and I won't be bullied into addressing things your feel I should or shouldn't be or quitting. If you feel it's OOC or ruining the canon story then just don't read it. Simple. Other people read this story out of their own choice, I am not falsing anyone to continue, well, except for my beta, but she hasn't moaned too hard just yet. Anyway I won't be addressing this sort of crap again, going to move on. Do the same.)_

 ** _I have just re_ _alised that I have over 200 reviews on this story so far too, so THANK YOU for supporting and encouraging me to continue._**

 ** _Also I am starting a new job next week and so I am not sure how often I can update until I know how hectic my life will be but never fear for those who do like my story I will continued to the end, it just may take me a bit longer to get there than I thought. :)_**

 ** _DISCLAIMER: I don't owe anything TM._**

* * *

Andrews glanced aimlessly around the large crowded ballroom in search of the small brunette dressed in the pretty coral dress. He had had the pleasure of being in her company for the first part of the night but they had been separated when Director Schwaltz had nabbed both himself and Cho to take part in a FBI charity slave auction. Although the top boss had made it quite clear that she had been hoping for the illusive Patrick Jane as her charity star prize and certainly was having to settle for his not so popular co-workers instead.

After the humiliation of being bought as slave for a day by the rather enthusiastic Agent Debbie Greene from Special Ops for $400 dollars, he mingled with some of his other colleagues, chatting idly with Tork and Cho for a time but had failed to locate Lisbon yet. Just as he was about to admit defeat he glanced out of the large bay windows and spotted the small brunette standing out alone on the ballroom balcony.

"Hey, there you are. I thought you had left for the night," Andrews said, making his way out through the doors and onto the romantically lit balcony.

On hearing a voice behind her Lisbon spun around. "Hey, Sean," she replied, smiling warmly at her colleague as he swayed on his way over to her, clearly having had a tad too much to drink from the open bar. "I just needed some air," she told him, "it's very warm in there."

Unfortunately, when Cho had roped her into chatting crime and case statistics with one of the FBI's chief directors of the Dallas office she had felt herself slowly burning up as she had some sort of hot flush, and started to feel faint from it. She had quickly excused herself and made her way outside to the large balcony for some fresh air. It wasn't the first time she had a hot flush over the past few weeks but she had put it down to maybe being the start of going through menopause when in fact it had been down to her being pregnant instead.

"Yeah, don't blame you, it's full of hot in air in there. Big wigs with too much ego, power and money." Andrews grinned when Lisbon responded with a knowing smirk. "I mean it says it's supposed to be a fun night for all." Andrews pulled the gala invitation out of his tuxedo jacket trying to focus on the gold italic words printed on the card. "They've played very loosely with the word fun, that's for sure."

Lisbon chuckled, noticing the free alcohol had made Andrews more lucid and more playful than normal. She had come out on the veranda to give herself some air and some time alone. Since finding about the baby and calling a truce, Jane had hardly left her side, mostly fussing and keeping an eye on her when she strayed two inches from her desk, so it was nice to get time to gather her thoughts. She had been enjoying looking out over the beautiful landscaped gardens and mainly trying to get her head around the pregnancy. The fact she was even having a baby still seemed surreal, and whilst it had been over a week since she had found out, she just couldn't quite believe it was actually happening. She was forty-two years of age and had given up hopes of having her own family years ago, focusing on her career instead, but now it was actually happening and she wasn't sure what she felt. A mixture of emotions, that was for sure.

"You look really beautiful tonight, that colour is really stunning on you," Andrews commented after a few moments of enjoying the warm night air. He turned more to face her, his eyes glazing over and darkening as he ran them down over her face.

Lisbon blushed, placing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and feeling a little uncomfortable by her team mate's compliment and quite obvious desire for her. "Thank you. Jane got it for me." She hoped mentioning her husband's name would kerb Andrews' bravery for whatever he was planning on doing or saying next.

"So, where is Jane tonight?" Andrews took a large sip of his champagne, not bothering to hide the bitterness at mentioning the said man's name. "Because if you were my wife, I wouldn't let you out alone looking like that." He took another sip of his champagne but kept his eyes fixed firmly on Lisbon.

Deciding not to react, knowing Andrews was a little drunk from all the free champagne, she smiled falsely. "Ah, well, you know Jane, probably up to something he shouldn't be, no doubt." Unfortunately for her she underestimated Andrews' drunken state, as he wasn't at all deterred by the mention of Jane. "Teresa, there's something I want to say and this isn't easy for me… but I can't hold it in anymore."

Lisbon gulped heavily on her OJ, guessing what was coming next. In a vain attempt to try and save the poor man from embarrassing himself she interrupted. "Sean, please…" she started but he cut her off, grabbing her ever so lightly by the arm and pulling her closer.

"No, please let me finish, Teresa. I have been plucking the up courage for weeks now to say something and I just have to get it out." Andrews inhaled a breath before continuing. "I really like you, I mean, I think about you all of the time and when I am with you, like out here, right now, I feel like there isn't any other place I'd rather be... and we get on really well...and before your AWOL husband turned up I thought we were slowly growing closer."

Seeing the hope building in his eyes Lisbon gently took his hand in hers, preparing to shoot him down in the kindest way she knew how. She did like the man, he was attractive, smart, funny, kind and a good man and if she had met him a decade earlier she may have even considered giving them a chance but she loved her husband so much more. She always had, and no matter what seemed to conspire between them, no man could compare to that. She didn't want to hurt or humiliate Sean. She had gone through all that once before with Pike and she didn't plan on doing it again. Andrews swayed back a little as the fresh air hit him and she held his hand tighter, keeping him steady. He smiled at her gesture, taking this as a good sign. "Sean, I'm married," she said softly.

"I know, I know you are, but I can't help the way I feel about you." Andrews took a step away trying to clear his head before downing the rest of his champagne. He quickly turned back to face the beautiful brunette, grabbing both her hands in his so they were touching when he made his brave move.

"I have tried to ignore these feelings, Teresa, really I have. But I can't do it anymore. I think…. I think I'm in love with you."

The second the three little words left his mouth, he put himself and Lisbon into a stunned silence. He watched as a range of emotions crossed her delicate features before finally settling on awkward embarrassment. "Sean… you've had a lot to drink," she said, squeezing his hands lightly before letting go. "You don't know what you're saying."

"No, I do." Andrews stepped back closer, letting her see he truly meant what he had said. "I know that's a big statement and yes, I have had a few to drink, but I know what I am saying. I know what I feel. I love you. I know things are complicated with Jane but we can make it work, I know we can. Tork told me you asked Jane for a divorce and I know you're still separated…- "

Lisbon glanced away, knowing her next statement wouldn't be received well. "Sean, we are not separated. Not anymore." She smiled warmly up at Andrews as he blinked rapidly, realising his great error in judgement. "And we are having a baby," she added, not very comfortable in actually saying those words out loud nor in telling her colleague in this unplanned manner but knowing she wouldn't be able to keep the baby a secret for much longer if the swell of her belly was anything to go by.

Lisbon saw the look of total devastation appear on the drunken man's face as her statement slowly sunk in. "Oh. Right. I... I didn't… I thought-"

"We have been trying to keep our private lives out the office after everything. We just wanted to keep our business to ourselves," Lisbon explained. "We have been trying to work on our marriage since Nevada. Taking things slowly."

Andrews exhaled a staggered breath, running a hand down over his face and feeling like a complete and utter prized turnip. "Right, of course." He chuckled, leaning his hands against the balcony wall to steady himself. "Well… I've just made a complete jackass of myself, haven't I?" He added in embarrassment, not quite believing how badly he had messed up.

"First time I have ever said those three words and I get it completely wrong. Me and free bars clearly don't mix." He motioned to his now empty champagne flute, instantly regretting having the large six glasses he had consumed earlier in the night.

"Sean… I'm really flattered, really I am." Lisbon took a step forward, hoping to comfort the man in some way but he backed away from her, too embarrassed by his honest declaration and total misjudgement in the situation.

"Do you know what? I just remember I have to be somewhere…" he claimed unconvincingly, edging back towards large bay windows and wishing somehow the ground would swallow him up and bury him.

"Sean… you don't have to leave."

Before he completely disappeared back into the ballroom and to the mingling crowds he looked back towards Lisbon. "Uh, just do me one favour. Don't tell Jane about any of this," he pleaded, hoping she'd take pity on him after totally humiliating himself. "You know, I value my job… and my life," he added chuckling but both knew there was real fear hidden underneath there.

"Sure." Lisbon smiled kindly, hoping Andrews would be ok and didn't go and do something stupid in his embarrassed and drunken state. How the hell were they supposed to work together now? There was only so much denial and glossing over they both could do. And could she really hide the truth from Jane? She was a terrible liar and he was the king of extracting the truth out of people. Andrews hadn't just made a drunken pass at her, he had declared his undying love for her. She wasn't used to men doing that if she was honest. Pike had never once told her he loved her and it had taken Jane nearly a decade to declare his real true feelings. It was like one extreme to the other with the men in her life.

Deciding she had enough dramatics for one night she made her way back into the ballroom to get her jacket. She had helped Cho network a few of the top dogs like she had promised but she was feeling tired and overwhelmed. It wasn't like she could take advantage of the free bar in her new condition anyway.

She made her goodbyes to Cho and Director Schwaltz who were standing chatting near the exit and made her way out of the hotel to her SUV. All she could do was put on her best poker face with Jane and hope her and Andrews could move forward without any real damage to their friendship or working relationship.

* * *

Jane held the door of their cabin open allowing Lisbon to enter their home. "Hey, you're back earlier than expected. So how was it? You survive, then?" he enquired playfully, knowing how extremely dull these sort of events were despite their fancy locations, great canapés and black tie dress code.

Lisbon approached the dining table looked down anxiously at the pile of pregnancy books whilst Jane kindly removed her jacket for her. He had started purchasing the books ever since she found out she was pregnant leaving them unsubtly lying around the house. Jane approached her from behind, wrapping his arms gently around her waist and pulling her close. Since they both called a truce over his father's return, they had both been making a purposeful effort on their marriage, and now having reconnected the intimate side of their relationship Jane seemed to be taking full advantage of it and wanting to keep it that way.

"Yeah, I am good, it was okay, they ended up raising a lot for charity and that's the main thing," she told him. "Seeing Cho being bought as a slave by Agent Mary Trumpton was a highlight of the evening," Lisbon chuckled, leaning back against Jane's chest as his hands moved over her stomach to her tiny firm bump. It wasn't a real visible pregnancy bump yet but it felt solid and there was definitely a slight raise to her normally flat and toned stomach.

"Mary Trumpton? Isn't she the rather older scary lady from- "

"Oh, yeah. $700 hundred she bid for Cho, too. Claim's she has a room full of archiving boxes she needs moving over to the new archiving unit so I think Cho will have his work cut out for him that day."

"Poor Cho," Jane chuckled in agreement, knowing the stoic agent was in for a heavy workload that day. "Anything else exciting to tell me?" he probed, hoping for more teasing office titbits on his colleagues. These work events always sprung up a hive of colleague gossip and fun drunken tales by the end of the night.

"No," she stated a little sharply in high voice. Jane felt her tense and he knew there was definitely something she wasn't telling him.

"No? Nothing?"

"No. Nothing exciting happened," she agreed, trying her hardest to sound as normal and casual as possible. Now he knew for sure there was something she wasn't telling him but he wouldn't push the matter any further tonight. He'd wait until she was least expecting it to find out more about what she was hiding. He nuzzled his face down into her neck, placing a few gentle kisses to her soft porcelain skin.

"So what did you get up to?" she asked, turning the questioning back to him.

"Who? Me? Nothing much," he shrugged casually "read some of these pregnancy books to refresh myself. Had a nap, nothing exciting."

It was the truth but once he had done all those things he had also made his way across town to a well-known sports bar. It wasn't his sort of establishment to catch a drink but he was more interested in one of its regular customers, Shane McCarthy, the nurse. Jane had wanted to speak to the man about his father, to try and find out what Alex was up to or planning so he could avoid his wife any more disappointment and heartache in the long run. Unfortunately, it had all been a pointless trip and waste of time as Shane had no information to give him, except that his father seemed very happy to be back home and was recovering well. He didn't suspect the old man was planning to run or leave, in fact Shane felt, if anything, it was the complete opposite. This wasn't the news Jane had expected or wanted to hear. He felt a little annoyed his summary and prediction on his no good father were being proven totally wrong, so far.

"Are you feeling tired?" he asked, changing the subject and not wanting her to know he was checking up on his father. He had promised to stay away from the man but that didn't mean to say he couldn't be kept up with what the man was up to and doing. Lisbon swayed lightly in his arms, enjoying the feel and warmth of him being wrapped around her. She hadn't realised until they kissed and made up how much she had missed his touch in the four months they had been separated.

"I think that afternoon nap you made me take today has helped," she told him.

"Good. So my plan worked then." With that Jane gently turned his wife in his arms, keeping his body pressed up against hers and continuing to place kisses on her jawline and neck.

"Plan?" she repeated, smirking curiously.

"Hmmm, well I didn't want you too exhausted when you got back tonight."

"And why would you not want that? She smiled widely, knowing exactly what he had in mind.

"I will let you guess…"

 _ **(*M Scene*)**_

With that Jane passionately captured her lips with his, probing her mouth open with his tongue, seeking permission to deepen it. She gasped with surprise but quickly returned the kiss back.

Running his hands seductively up the sides of her body, he skimmed his palm over her breasts before moving his other hand to cup the cheek of her ass, squeezing tenderly. Swiftly grabbing the fabric of her coral dress Jane slowly slid the flowy material up her thighs until the long dress was bunching up around her waist, revealing her lacy French style panties. He grinned as his fingertips traced the lace material, very pleased she had worn his favourite underwear, before hooking his fingers at the corners near the indent of her hips and pulling the delicate material downwards.

Jane slowly moved the panties down her legs, letting them to fall around her ankles, waiting as she kicked them off along with her high heeled sandals. Gently guiding her backwards and kissing her lips, her thighs hit the edge of the dining table causing her to hiss from the coldness of the surface touching her warm skin. He chuckled against her lips before gently nudging her legs apart using his knee, grinding his hardening groin against her now exposed core. He felt her tremble slightly, a sensation that rippled through her body and hummed against his, causing his hardness to increase to an almost painful degree.

Moving his lips back down to her neck he placed open mouthed kisses to her flushed skin and sucking ever so lightly, taking small nips with his teeth as he ascended her neck column. Both of his hands slid down to her bare ass once again, squeezing and cupping, enjoying the feel of her warm skin against the palms of his hands, as he ever so softly lifted her up to sit perched on the edge of dining table

"Jane…"

"Hmmmm," he mumbled, kissing the top of her cleavage. With his free hand he reached up to pull the front of her dress down over her breasts, grinning wickedly when it revealed she wasn't wearing any bra underneath.

"Let's move this to the bedroom," she told him, her breathing becoming heavier as he kissed her swollen nipple, swirling his tongue around the erect bud and pulling it playfully between his teeth, eliciting a groan that made his lips curve in a smile against her flesh.

"Okay," he mumbled, his mouth still focusing its attention on her breasts with no signs of stopping. Finally lifting his head up, he captured her mouth again, the heat ripping through her veins as his lips crushed hers. Just as she was about to repeat her request for them to move this to the bedroom his hand moved to her naked core dragging a finger up inside her slowly, instantly making her mind go hazy with pleasure.

He added another finger, gently stroking her core whilst he kissed her face and jawline. She instinctively pushed her hips forward, pressing herself against his hand for much more of what he was giving her. Her eyes fluttered shut as his fingers continued their glorious teasing, making her more turned on and wetter with every stroke given.

"Hmmm, you look so beautiful in that dress," he whispered seductively into her ear before slowly inserting his two fingers simultaneously into her body causing her to exhale a little squeal of surprise. He could feel her stretch around his fingers as he curved them at the knuckles, feeling her heat against the flesh of his fingertips.

"God," she moaned, holding him close as he quickly set a rhythm placing his thumb down her swollen clitoris. He applied small circular motions to the swollen bud as she began panting heavily as her body responded to the magic of his fingers.

"It's Patrick," he told her, chuckling in her ear.

Lisbon pressed her head lazily against his shoulder, her breathing becoming a very heavy pant. "Shut… up…" she told him, not impressed by the response.

"You want me to stop," he asked teasingly, knowing full well she wouldn't want that at this point. Her core began tightening around his fingers as he picked up the pace, sliding his fingers into her, then pulling them halfway out. He repeated this a few times, feeling her hand come up to squeeze his biceps in her small hand. Guiding her body backwards on the table he spread her legs further apart to allow more penetration. She looked incredibly sexy leaning back on the table, her wavy chestnut hair hanging down around her shoulders, her breasts on show, biting her bottom lip and exposing herself to him.

"Let go," he whispered, seeing she was trying to fight her body's natural reaction. He pressed his thumb a little harder against her clit, watching as her eyes screwed tightly shut as the pleasure started building fast. The sound of a whimper escaped her lips as her body tensed as her orgasm reached its climax, eventually her legs turning to jelly and swaying as pleasure overtook her. When her orgasm hit she threw herself forward grabbing hold of his shoulders for some support, burying her face into him to muffle her cries of ecstasy.

Slowing his rhythm and allowing her to catch her breath he kissed her gently on the temple. "Was that okay?" he asked, just needing reassurance he had satisfied her fully. She nodded her head but remained silently panting, with her head still leaning against him.

Once her heart and breathing had calmed, Lisbon lifted her head to look at him. Her pupils now fully dilated and darkened with lust and desire. "I want you," she told him. With that she reached down between them and swiftly undid his pants, pulling at his zipper quickly and freeing his throbbing erection from his boxers. She clumsily grasped at his pants and boxers, pushing them down his thighs but neither bothered to worry once they were around his knees.

"I thought you wanted to move this to the bedroom," he asked a tad too smugly as she pumped his shaft in her hand, making sure he was ready for her. She pulled him closer, clearly not caring anymore about moving their activities to the bedroom, wanting him there and then on the table.

"Shut up and make love to me," she barked playfully.

"Yes, ma'am…"

With that Jane placed himself at her slick core, sliding into her with ease, and releasing a small groan as he felt her body adjusting around him while closing his eyes as the feel of her warm core pushed all his biofeedback to its limits. Lisbon moved her body forward, letting him know she wanted much, much more. He grinned at her as he slowly pulled out before sliding back more forcefully. As he did this, he made the dining table scrape backwards slightly, the noise of the table legs scraping across the wooden floor echoing in the cabin for a few seconds.

Both let out a low panting groan as their pace increased. Lisbon quickly began to feel her second release building again. She gripped his shoulders, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and pulling him closer to her, wanting him deeper and harder inside of her as he could go.

Her orgasm hit fast, hot and forceful, and Jane rode her through it, the need growing wildly before finally finding his own release and slowing the pace down to a virtual stop.

"I love you so much," he whispered softly, kissing her lips when able to speak again. Her legs slowly dropped down from around his waist in exhaustion, but Jane remained inside of her, not wanting to break their intimate connection just yet. They had made love a few times since the discovery of the baby and each time made him realise he never wanted to be a parted from her again and he fully was determined to keep it that way.

"I love you, too."

They remained in each other's arms for a few minutes trying to catch their breaths, just enjoying being together and sharing tender kisses. When Jane completely lost his hard on he gently pulled out of her, moving Lisbon's beautiful dress back down her thighs and back up over her breasts. He bent down to pick up the lacy panties lying idly on the floor whilst he re-adjusted his own clothes. Holding the lace on the end of his finger Jane swung the material around in the air with smug glee, teasing her.

 _ ***End M***_

"Reece? That you?"

Lisbon's eyes widened in sheer panic as the sound of her little brother's voice came floating down the hallway. She quickly jumped down off the dining table pulling her dress down at the back to cover her bare ass. Within seconds her youngest brother Jimmy appeared in the living area doorway wearing only a pair of a black pyjamas bottoms, hair all in disarray and rubbing his eyes from sleep. Jane was also surprised at his brother in law's appearance out of nowhere, unaware he was even in the house. Jimmy must have showed up and let himself in when he had been out across town interrogating Shane.

Lisbon quickly grabbed her panties still hanging from Jane's finger and hiding them behind her back out of sight. "Jimmy! What the hell are you doing here!?" she spat, feeling extremely hot and flustered still in her post orgasmic state, confused why Jane hadn't mentioned the fact her brother was there before now. She had only moved back into the cabin three weeks ago and she certainly hadn't expected a family invasion so soon. She wondered if this was some kind set up between her siblings to check up on them.

"I am playing in a big poker game here in Austin tomorrow night," Jimmy explained, "thought I stay with you and Patrick whilst I'm here. You don't mind me crashing in your spare room for a couple of nights, do you?" Jimmy yawned, stretching his arms upright.

"No, of course not, but you could have called first," she told him, a little horrified that her brother's unannounced visit could have resulted in him catching them at it on the dining room table only a few minutes earlier. Now having fully woken up Jimmy noticed how red his sister's face and chest looked. "You okay, sis?" he asked out of concern.

"I'm fine. It's just hot… in here."

Jane couldn't help give a little smile at his wife's poor excuse of a lie. She really was a terrible liar and actress. Frowning at her explanation Jimmy turned his attention towards her more chilled composed husband standing to the right of her, "Hey, Patrick, good to see you. Glad to hear you two have finally patched things up."

"You too, Jim..," The two men shook hands before Jimmy focused his attention back on his guilty looking sister.

"So what was all that noise?"

"What noise?" Lisbon snapped sharply glancing quickly over at Jane, desperately trying to remember how loud they had they been whilst having sex. Neither one of them was known for being particularly loud but every now and then the moment could take over, and they had both been known to express their desires for each other in a vocal way at times.

"I heard what sounded like furniture being moved, scared the life out of me. Thought it was friggin' burglar." Jimmy told them, now scanning the large living area for signs of the moved furniture. Seeing Lisbon quickly paling in color, Jane spoke up for them confidently, "We were just moving the dining table, not sure where we want it yet. Are we, my love?"

Jimmy peered behind the pair, seeing the table was in the exact same place it had been when he arrived earlier that night.

"Yeah, the table." Lisbon nodded, relieved to know at least Jane was in control of himself even if she wasn't.

"Right." Jimmy eyed the pair suspiciously, knowing something wasn't quite right if his sister's weird behaviour was anything to go by but was too tired to try and figure it all out. "Well, I am going back to bed. Big game tomorrow. I need my wits about me. I will bid you both a good night." With that Jimmy headed back out of the living area and down the hall again.

"Night, Jimmy," Jane called out.

Lisbon released a big sigh of relief, just grateful they hadn't been caught in the act before her annoyance kicked in. "Why didn't you tell me he was here!" she hissed, annoyed that Jane hadn't mentioned the fact before now. There was no way she would have let them have sex in the living area with someone else sleeping in their house.

"I didn't know he was here," he told her honestly. Before Lisbon could question him on how her little brother had made his way into their home without him knowing, especially if he had been at home all night like he claimed to be, Jimmy's voice echoed out again from the hallway.

"Oh and next time you're doing my sister make sure you do it on furniture that doesn't move... And make sure you do your flies up too!" Both Jane and Lisbon's gazes shot down to Jane's crotch to see that his zipper was open, with his boxers on show.

"Owww." Jane chuckled as Lisbon gave him a short sharp whack with the back of her hand, annoyed he was the reason they had been caught in the act before she stormed to their bedroom in a playful huff.


	17. Chapter 17

**So sorry for the wait in updating but my own free time is quite limited and so I have to try and write as and when I can. Thanks for all the new followers, reviews and reading. (Not sure when I will next update but I am working on it when I can so its a work in progress. ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own TM but I sure do miss it.**

* * *

Lisbon strode into the sun lit kitchen to grab her early morning coffee before leaving for work. Doctors had advised her to limit herself to only one cup per day with her being pregnant. "Morning, Reece," Jimmy greeted from behind her, startling her to his presence as he sat at the breakfast bar munching quietly on a bowl of cereal.

"Morning," came her less than thrilled hello back. She was still a little embarrassed about the events of the night before and was hoping her little brother would have still been asleep at this early hour.

"Sleep well?" Jimmy enquired, grinning playfully as she pottered around doing her morning routine.

"Yes, thank you, very well."

"Bet you did."

She shot him a warning glare, dropping her smile and hating the fact that her siblings always knew how to embarrass her, even now as adults. Some sibling traits always remain no matter what age you are, it seemed. "Well, you will be happy to know I was undisturbed last night, so you two kept the noise down pretty well," he added, talking with his mouth half full of Captain Crunch.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "We didn't have s-…" She paused when she saw that nothing she said was going to stop her brother mickey taking. "Oh, just forget it," she snapped, sipping on her coffee. Her attention was drawn away when Jane entered the large kitchen buttoning up his shirts cuffs. "Morning," he greeted when he sensed some tension brewing amongst the two. He walked over, placing a soft kiss to his wife's lips.

Ignoring and forgetting her annoying little brother for a few minutes Lisbon smiled warmly as Jane gave her a kiss hello whilst slyly placing his hand over her belly to give their unborn a morning hello too. "Morning."

"Hey, Patrick."

"Morning, Jimmy." Grabbing the kettle off the hob Jane filled it up with water for his morning cup of camomile tea. "Everything okay in here?" he enquired, knowing full well it wasn't, guessing that was all down to Jimmy's doing. Before Lisbon could reply Jimmy spoke up first.

"We are fine. Just having a bit of a laugh with Reece here, she's always been a bit of a prude so it's always fun winding her up over stuff-"

"Excuse me! I am not a prude," Lisbon abruptly interrupted, not liking her brother's assessment of her. She may be a private person but she never saw herself as prude. Was she?

"Ah, come on, Reece, you are," Jimmy smirked, seeing how irate she was becoming at his teasing. "Hey, it's okay, some people in this world aren't as easygoing as others when it comes to matters of a physical nature. Look at when me and Stan busted you and Woody making out on your bed that time. You went ape shit and," Jimmy paused, pointing his spoon in Lisbon's direction to emphasise his point, "it's been over twenty years and you're still blushing about that."

Jane leaned up against the kitchen side watching the exchange between the two siblings and noticing his wife had turned a bright shade of pink at Jimmy's tale about her childhood sweetheart. He gave a small chuckle as his wife flustered for a comeback.

"You… you… were hiding under my bed!" she snapped.

"Well, it was our secret mission den," Jimmy explained, not at all phased by the angry glare he was now receiving. "How were we to know you and that spotty fool would start feeling each other up?"

"Oh shut up. We weren't feeling each other up, we were just kissing."

Jane had made himself and Lisbon a camomile tea whilst he quietly listened to her and her little brother bicker with each other over the elusive Woody Squire. He managed to prise the half drank coffee from his wife's hands and placing a cup of tea in its place, without her really realising. Whilst doctors had given her permission to drink one coffee a day he didn't really want her drinking caffeine in her current condition. Eventually Jane glanced at the kitchen clock on the microwave. "I have to leave, I am picking Wylie up," he stated as to why he was rushing off and interrupting the two warring siblings.

Lisbon stopped mid rant about the sanctuary of privacy as a teenage girl, focusing her attention back on her husband, "Wylie? Why?"

"Well, I think it's time we got young Wylie back out in the field. I am taking him along to Innotech this morning, break him in easy. Going to see what we can find out about the tampered CCTV footage." Jane grabbed his suit jacket pecking his wife on the lips goodbye. "I will see you later at the office." Jane again placed his hand across her belly but not hiding the motion from Jimmy this time before leaving the kitchen. Lisbon awkwardly looked up at her brother who was now watching her with curiosity.

"Ok, what's going on?" Jimmy asked, dropping his teasing, seeing there was something going on between the pair. Lisbon moved quickly to the sink so not to face her brother as she said it. "We are having a baby."

"Oh wow, that great news…" Jimmy paused, seeing his sister was hardly doing cartwheels over this news. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." She finally turned back biting her bottom lip, showing how unsure of herself she was over it all.

"But…" Jimmy added, prompting her to continue.

"But… but what if I am not a good mom, Jimmy? What If I am not made out to be a mother? And what about my job?" she said quickly in concession, one fear after another spilling out of her mouth. Hearing the genuine fear in his sister's words he moved from the breakfast bar and came up to her, placing his hand gently on her arm in a way of comfort.

"Reece, you will be an incredible mother. I know that first hand. You practically raised us three tearaways and look how great I've turned out." Jimmy smiled, amused when Teresa's eyes narrowed at him when her view on that matter differed totally.

"Well, I'd say that's debatable," she added smirking before going back to seriousness. "But it was different with you boys, you had a mother before and you were older, I don't know what I am doing with a baby, where do I even start and what if the baby doesn't like me?" she said, lowering her voice just in case Jane had returned.

Jimmy let out a loud burst of laughter which made Lisbon pout as it seemed like he was mocking her fears. "Oh Reece, you don't have to worry about this sort of thing, seriously, motherhood will all come naturally, and your baby will adore you, you're gonna make a great mom and I will be the favourite uncle. It's all a given."

"You think?" she asked, uncertain but praying for once in his life her little brother was right.

"100%." Seeing her upset Jimmy quickly pulled her into a hug. For a few minutes they were both just content to be able to be close again with one another. They had many years apart to make up for.

"Right. And now I am going to take a shower. There aren't kinky sex toys I should be looking for in there, is there?" he asked, reverting back to the teasing little brother act as though the last few minutes of his loving support and maturity hadn't really happened.

Lisbon rolled her eyes, whacking him hard on the arm as she grabbed her bag and jacket. She made her way to the front door of the home. Just before she left she turned back to Jimmy who was still giggling at his own silly remark. "No, there's no sex toys… but don't go in our bedroom, the sex swing is still up," she stated with an evil smirk but in a deadly serious tone.

Jimmy laughed but his amusement slowly died as he made his way along to the bathroom and doubt set in. He paused briefly outside Teresa and Patrick's bedroom, suddenly wondering if Reece was kidding around or if maybe his big sister, the prude, had a secret naughty side he had no idea about. Curiosity finally getting the better of him he slowly turned the door handle taking a quick peek in to the large master bedroom, exhaling a small sigh of relief, extremely relieved to discover his sister was only joking with him.

* * *

"She's argumentative, she's forward, she's pushy, and she doesn't listen to anything I tell her!" Wylie exclaimed as he and Jane made their way into the large skyscraper's foyer. Cho had requested Tork and Jane go question the software company about the tampered CCTV footage but Jane had suggested Wylie should be the one to attend, hoping to break the young lad back into field work.

Wylie had spent the last half hour ranting about Agent Pullman on the journey over, whilst Jane had happily sat back listening and chiming in every now and then with a response where it was necessary.

"And... she totally messed around with the screen saver of my PC too," Wylie snapped, irritated. She changed my star wars picture for Ryan Reynolds."

"Wow, what a bitch," Jane replied in a deadpan manner as they approached the Innotech reception desk smirking when the sarcasm went totally over Wylie's head. The young receptionist looked up from her computer, smiling widely at the two men now standing in front of her. "Can I help you, gentleman?""

"Hi, yes, I'm Patrick Jane, consultant for the FBI and this is my colleague, Agent Wylie, we are here for a meeting with your chief of security, Jeff Davies."

"Take a seat, sirs, and I will let him know you are both here."

Jane nodded in thanks to the woman. He made his way to the couch waiting area followed by a disgruntled Wylie. "And she doesn't shut up. Yabba yabba yabba all the time." Wylie continued, not quite finished on the subject of their new colleague. "Did you know her cousin Frank left his fiancée, Karen-Ann at the altar and ran off to set up a cake shop in San Francisco with his secret lover…? Dave," Wylie said in outrage as they took a seat on one of the couches. The young tech wasn't outraged by the story of Cousin Frank but by the fact that he knew about it.

"Well, love will blossom in the most unusual places and circumstances, my young friend," Jane said adding his two cents worth. "I am sure they are very happy together. Shame for poor old Karen-Ann though." Jane grinned, trying his hardest not to laugh at Wylie's unfounded upset.

"Yes, it is, but why did I need to know about that? How does Cousin Frank's love life have anything to do with me! She's a nightmare," Wylie stated before exhaling a final breath at finally getting his colleague woes off his chest. Jane remained quiet, pretending to read the latest PC weekly magazine he had found but couldn't help but grin knowingly at exactly why Wylie was getting so irritated and worked up by his new female colleague. He had been watching the young agents all week bicker and fight with each other and it seemed like they were only two unaware of why exactly that was. Deciding to test his theory, Jane's eyes glanced at a sour faced Wylie sitting beside him. "She's good at all that technology stuff she does. Very good in fact, she was a great help to us whilst you were away."

Wylie huffed. "Yeah, well that may be so but she's still a pain in the ass in my opinion."

"She just… more open and friendly then the rest of us," Jane told him. "We could do with more people like her in this world. But then you already know that," Jane added, grinning widely at a puzzled looking Wylie who was staring blankly back at his comment. "That's why you like her," Jane stated confidently.

"What!" Wylie exclaimed in a squeaky high voice. "No! I mean... yes… I mean no… she's annoying and she's irrita-" he flustered before Jane swiftly cut in.

"Irritating, yes you already said. Chatty, pushy, forward….and pretty… and smart… and friendly… and a good agent." Jane watched as his words about Pullman began swirling around Wylie's head. "And if we were in a school playground, you would be pulling on her pigtails and calling her names, my dear Wylie," he told him before returning to the magazine on E-commerce development.

Wylie's face flushed a bright shade of pink, a little stunned at Jane's assessment on his real feelings and said the only thing he could think of as a defensive response. "She's not my type." His voice broke as guilt flooded his thoughts, immediately going to Vega and remembering his old feelings for her. Whilst they had never been a couple it somehow felt like betrayal to her. Besides he much preferred dark brunettes, than golden blondes he told himself.

Jane noticed the look of guilt flooding the young man who sat beside him. In a quieter and softer tone Jane spoke again. "It's okay to move on, Wylie. I know it's not always easy but sometimes it's inevitable, no matter how much you fight it. Trust me." Wylie gave a small nod but remained silent on the matter. A few minutes passed and Jane sat reading the dull periodical with a small cheesy smile plastered on his face. Wylie guessed it was more than calling him on his hidden feelings for his colleague. "What's up with you?" Wylie probed curiously.

"Who? Moi?"

"Yeah, you've had this goofy looking grin on your face for days now."

Closing the magazine he wasn't even reading Jane focused on Wylie again, contemplating whether or not to spill the beans. "Lisbon finally moved back in," he said like a kid on Christmas day.

"She has?

"Ah huh."

"Wow… that great news, Jane. I am so happy for you both."

"Thanks, we are keeping it on the down low for the moment so best keep that to yourself for now." He was desperate to tell him about the baby but knew he had to wait until Lisbon had spoken to Cho first. Suddenly a large bald headed man, mid fifties, dressed in a navy blue Innotech blazer stepped out of the elevator searching the foyer. "Here's our guy," Jane said, cutting the conversation on his personal life short. He stood up moving to the clueless man with purpose.

"You must be Jeff Davies," Jane said upon approaching the man and startling him a little.

"Agent Jane, Agent Wylie, I presume? Yes, I am Jeff Davies, head of security for Innotech." Wylie shook the man's hand whilst Jane stood studying the larger sweaty man. Jeff Davies went to walk the two agents to somewhere more private but Jane jumped straight into the questions, not caring who in the foray could overhear.

"Did you tamper with the CCTV footage handed to the FBI, Mr Davies? My colleague here and his attractive new assistant," Jane smirked towards Wylie as he teased him about Pullman. "They have clarified first hand that the CCTV video from your underground garage has definitely been doctored. Did you murder Joanne Webber?"

Jeff Davies paled in colour as a few other employees walking by stopped to see what his reply would be. "Murder? I have no idea what you talking about?" Davies sputtered, going into a slight panic and wiping his brow nervously with a handkerchief.

"Hmmmm." Jane studied the man for a few seconds before concluding the bumbling fool was innocent. "Who sent over the CCTV footage?" Wylie asked a little shyly, not quite back in agent mode yet.

"Well, that would be probably one of my ground staff, Mark Humphreys or Alan Turner. They are in charge of security maintenance, including the garage and any CCTV for the building."

"Well, let's go talk to them then, shall we?" Jane held his arm out, letting Mr Davies lead the way through the building.

"Do you think he knows something?" Wylie whispered as they moved through the large skyscraper, walking through key card entrances and pass hi tech equipment rooms with Innotech employees working hard at their desk stations.

"No, Davies is just some middle management fool with a gambling problem, who likes to get spanked by hookers," Jane told the young agent with an air of certainty. "But a sick twisted highly intelligent serial killer? I don't see it."

Finally, Mr Davies led them down to the basement of the building and into a very large darkened room filled with wall monitors and CCTV screens, as well as location for Innotech's main servers and hardware.

"This is Mark Humphreys. Mark, these man are from the FBI and they want to ask you some questions about the CCTV you sent over." A shorter overweight man fumbled upright from the leather swivel chair as He heard his bosses voice. He slyly tried to stuff the remains of a Big Mac into his mouth clearly not been expecting visitors to show up so early in the morning. By the looks of it Humphreys had been doing the night shift if his sleepy, tired and scruffy appearance was anything to go by. Jane stared down at Mr Davies, making the large man feel he had outstayed his welcome. Sensing the consultant wanted him to leave Mr Davies spoke, "Well, I need to go check something important. Mark, call me if you need me at all." Davies left the room, slightly relieved he didn't have to deal with the rather direct and intense FBI consultant anymore. Leaving the FBI agents alone with his clueless security guard instead.

"Well, not sure how much I can help." Mark wiped his greasy mouth with the back of his hand, swiftly brushing off sesame seeds from his uniform. "I wasn't here the day the warrant came in."

"So, it was your colleague, Alan Turner, then?" Jane stepped forward, ignoring the shorter unkempt security guy surveilling all the active CCTV monitors plastered across the back wall. The monitors showed all of the building's main areas, exits and some employee's work stations. Jane quickly noticed how certain CCTV cameras were angled towards the female employees but remained quiet about the matter for the time being.

"Yeah, it was Alan who sent the CCTV footage over."

Jane spun round when Humphreys spoke his colleague's name, hearing the clear disdain in his voice. "You don't like Alan, why?" Jane and Wylie watched as Mark's eyes widened at being called on his feelings. "I… I… he's odd. He's into some really weird shit," he confessed.

"What weird stuff?" Wylie asked, feeling more confident to ask questions now he was in the moment of investigating and becoming involved with the case more. Humphreys moved to a couple of lockers in the corner of the room pulling open the left hand one.

"Well, he draws these really weird pictures of bodies and skulls and shit…" Mark pointed to some small pencil drawings stuck to the door of Alan Turner's locker door. "And I've caught him watching this weird sadistic cartoon type porn when he is alone on night shift. I mean who wants to watch a cartoon? When you can watch real women? Right?" When Mark got no response from the two agents about the pornography, he quickly shut the locker door and moved back to his chair embarrassed.

"Where is Alan?" Jane asked, looking at the large control panel in the centre Mark was now sitting. Jane pulled a small lever to the left and saw that Camera Four moved from its current position to the left. Mark sighed, slapping Jane's hand away and moving the camera in the foyer back to its original angle. "He is due to start his dayshift in about ten minutes. Look, I have to go, I've got to do my morning rounds before I clock off my shift," he told them grabbing his receiver. "I am already on a final warning. Like I say, Alan will be here soon. He is the one you need to speak to."

Mark hovered by the door, waiting to be excused. "You can go," Jane eventually told the nervous looking man. Once Humphreys was out of the room Jane turned his focus to what Wylie was looking at. "What are those?" he asked as the young man fiddled with a wire in one of the large computer units like he had been doing since entering the darken room.

"These are the main servers for the building. Impressive stuff." Wylie moved along the row of machines slowly. "You know if one of the Killer mail IP addresses can be traced back to these servers, than we can know for sure the killer works here and possibly who he is." Wylie said, distracted by another high tech server machine. "They have put a bounce on all the IPs but I could be able to trace it if this is the original source," he said out loud.

"Well, get on and do it then." Jane sat down in the large leather chair, placing his feet up on the control panel and watching keenly as the monitors played Big Brother of the Innotech building. Jane's instruction pulled Wylie back into the room and back to the situation they were in. "I can't. I will need a warrant do that," he added nervously. Jane sighed, rolling his eyes. Wylie had been off work for a few months and had clearly got out of the habit of who he was working with. "Wylie, this killer is a sick twisted serial murderer. He sadistically tortures his victims and then burns them alive. Do you think we should let a little thing like a warrant worry us?" Jane said, raising a questionable eyebrow at his young colleague and knowing Wylie would do what he could to help with the case. Wylie's eyes frantically darted from left to right, knowing he was in enough trouble after the whole stealing FBI equipment debacle for Alex and that hacking into servers without a warrant could really end his career. Seeing Jane's intense gaze, Wylie sighed, knowing he wasn't about to win this war of morals. He nodded, relenting, before striding to the large control panel computer. "Okay, I will do it. Might take me a few minutes to get all IP addresses from all the servers though."

He gently pushed Jane off the leather chair and took position at the control desk. Jane stood and watched as Wylie did his magic on a piece of equipment that looked like something out of Star Trek. After a few minutes Wylie's face lit up but before Jane could ask if he had found anything, the door of the security room re-opened. Standing in the doorway was a skinny creepy looking man, no more than 5'8, mid 40's, with a grey dull complexion and a bad hair style combed and slicked over his head. His Innotech uniform hung off him, looking drab and uncared for. His eyes were a very dark brown with no sparkle whatsoever.

"Ah, Alan Turner, I am guessing." Jane stepped forward, holding his hand out for the man to take it blocking his view of Wylie as he sat unauthorised at the control desk behind him. "Hi, I am Patrick Jane, FBI."

"What is he doing?" Alan Turner asked, shutting the door and walking around Jane ignoring his hand gesture.

"Oh, he is just searching the internet. Some very interesting stuff in the history browser I must say, but I am guessing that is all your colleague's, right?" Jane added, watching every micro expression Turner was giving him. Turner approached a nervous looking Wylie who quickly stood up from the control panel, shoving a sheet of paper he had just printed off in his pants pocket. "You need a warrant to access that," Alan told them sharply and picking up the phone. "I am calling my boss."

Knowing he needed to distract the security guy Jane moved to the man's locker, opening the metal door. "Is this picture yours, Alan?" He pointed to the first sketch of a human body covered in what looked like blood.

"Yeah, and?" Jane smiled knowingly at the man when he saw a small flash of emotion when Jane invaded his locker. This guy wasn't easily intimidated or bothered by Jane's probing. He had spent enough time around psychopaths and cold blooded killers over the years to spot one in full view.

"Did you kill Joanne webber?" Jane asked directly. Alan Turner's face remained neutral unwavered by the consultant's question. "I am calling Mr Davies," Turner replied cooly, ignoring Jane's question and dialling his boss's extension, showing no fear or worry once again.

"Interesting," Jane murmured under his breath, his eyes never leaving Turner's as he spoke down the phone to his boss. "Come on, Wylie. I have seen all I need to for now." Wylie reluctantly left the security room whilst Jane paused in the doorway. "See you again real soon, Alan," Jane told him before shutting the security door behind them.

* * *

"So, let me get this right, you're saying this Alan Turner guy is our man?" Andrews asked questionably, as the whole team stood around Wylie's PC looking at the Innotech profile picture of their new said suspect.

"Yep," Jane responded from his couch, trying in vain to take a nap after a busy morning.

"This? This creepy looking weedy guy is the smooth Casanova who pulls young smart attractive women, earns their trust, takes them to fancy places and clubs and gets them into bed?" Andrews added more mockingly at Jane's newfound theory. "No way. No way is this our killer."

"Well, I haven't quite worked all that part out yet but I can't be expected to do all the work on my own but, yes, I am 95% sure this is our killer," Jane remarked as the rest of team eyed him like he was mad, his wife included.

"Ooooh. Maybe he has a dual personality or something?" Pullman added as a plausible theory.

Tork chuckled. "Like what? Creepy geeky IT nerd by day, handsome good looking playboy by night?" he threw in. "Uh, I mean, no offence," he added when he received two evil glares from both Pullman and Wylie on his IT nerd comment part.

"Are you sure Jane? I mean this guy is hardly Bradley Cooper, is he?" Before answering Jane leaned up on his elbow eying Lisbon for a few seconds shaking his head at her latest secret crush. He moved off the couch and come to stand at Wylie's desk with the rest of the team. He gently placed an arm around his wife's waist squeezing her hip lightly. He saw Andrews' eyes flickered towards them briefly but the agent looked away crestfallen at the small intimate gesture they'd just shared.

"I am 95% sure this is our man," Jane told them. "Plus we have confirmation of the IP address of some of emails sent to our second victim from that control unit."

Knowing it would take more than circumstantial evidence to catch this guy Andrews killed Jane's theory. "Doesn't mean it was him. Anyone could access that room if they are an Innotech employee." Jane rolled his eyes skywards, releasing a puff of air in exhaustion, not understanding why his team always doubted his suspicions and theories when the majority of the time he was correct with these things.

"Jane, Wylie, my office," Cho called out to them across the bullpen not looking very happy at all. Cho waited for both men to be seated at his desk before starting, "Forensics have finally managed to find a trace of DNA when I requested they did another search of the latest victim. With your new suspect now in play, I needed some more evidence than some creepy pictures and Jane's gut feeling."

"Ok, well that's a good thing, isn't it?" Jane questioned, seeing the upset and disappointing frown on Cho's brow.

"Yeah, it is a good thing but the DNA doesn't match your new suspect, Alan Turner. It's not a match."

"But how can that be?" Wylie sat forward, confused by this development as he too believed Turner was the killer. "The IP address for the second victim is linked to that security control panel computer, he has to be the killer."

"But anyone employed with Innotech has access to the security room, it will be impossible to prove it was Turner. They have over 2000 employees," Cho said, sighing, knowing even though Jane's theory on Turner might well be correct they had nothing to prove otherwise.

"Agent Cho." The sound of Director Shultz's voice floated into the room, making all three men turn back to look at her.

"Ma'am." Cho swallowed, knowing the director didn't do house visits to her staff normally so whatever it was that had brought her down to the third floor wasn't going to be good. "Everything okay?"

"No, it is not, Agent Cho," she snapped, storming up to his desk. "I have just had the Vice President of Innotech on the phone informing me that two of your team hacked into the servers and took information they weren't privy to? Do you know anything about this, Agent Cho?"

Cho shifted in his seat knowing his and his team's ass were on the line. "Yes. I told them to do it." Jane sighed as Cho tried to take the blame for his actions. Whilst it was a nice gesture, it wasn't necessary. The FBI wouldn't get rid of Patrick Jane, their famous consultant. They had been the ones to hunt him down and beg him back, after all.

"We have traced one of the killer's IP addresses to an Innotech server and we believe the killer is an employee of theirs," Cho told her, hoping this news would calm the waters somewhat but her angry and unimpressed expression remained fixed.

"Do you know how much shit we are in for this?"

"This wasn't Cho's fault," Jane said casually, interrupting the woman. "It was mine. I told young Wylie to do it, not Cho. You said to catch this guy no matter what and that is what me and the team are doing."

"Well, thanks to you and the team. I have had the senator on the phone blowing my ear off, he is good friends with the VP of Innotech and now the FBI are in serious shit for what you did, Mr Jane. Nothing you have got on Innotech can be used against them now or the killer." Shultz paced the floor, rubbing her tension headache. "I am sorry, Agent Cho, but I am removing you and your team from this investigation"

"You wanted me working on this case and I am sorry, Alexa, but I won't work with any other team," Jane said calling her bluff. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Yes, I did, Mr Jane, but it's been over four months already, and you and your team haven't even come close to nailing anyone and quite frankly I don't have a decade to waste to play games and catch another serial killer, so you're off the case too," she sniped at Jane. She marched to the door of Cho's office. "It seems to me that you have been more concerned with your own life, Mr Jane, than focused on solving this case. In fact it seems the whole team has been distracted with some personal crisis or issue of some sort." Shultz raised her eyebrows at scared looking Wylie.

"Agent Cho, as of today Agent Mitchell's team will be working the case. I want you to hand over the case files to him by the end of week. Do I make myself clear on this matter?"

"Yes, ma'am." Before slamming Cho's door firmly behind her, she grumbled, "They can't do a worse job than you lot."

"Well, that's that." Cho sat back in his chair, throwing his pen down on the desk in defeat. He had been really chuffed his team were put in charge of the biggest case in Texas in over twenty years but now they would be known in the FBI for the team that failed.

"You're just giving up?" Jane asked, bewildered that Cho was rolling over so easily.

"If I don't, Jane, I will lose my job and my position, so yes, I have no choice. The case isn't ours anymore, you heard her," Cho replied in a stern voice, making his point to the two men watching him. "I best go and inform the others and make sure the case files get transferred." Cho stormed from the office leaving Jane and Wylie alone.

"Now what do we do? Alan turner just gets away with it?" Wylie said somewhat deflated when Cho was firmly out of earshot.

"Well, my young friend, the only thing we can do." Jane smiled not deterred despite what Cho and Shultz had said. "We play the long game and capture this sick bastard ourselves." Jane winked and stood up following Cho out the office leaving a bewildered young Wylie watching wondering how the hell they were going to do all of that that without being in charge of the case anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for not updating sooner but with me working again my free time is very limited these days but I promise to finish this story, it just may take me some time to get there. I may have another chapter up again soon fingers crossed. Thank you for your continue support and patience. ;)**

 **(If you are looking for some great entertaining fanfics to read, that update much quicker than mine, then def check out Broken by Mayzee and Attempting Fate by Dirtypopsicle. Both are my favourite stories at the moment)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the TM sadly. :(**

* * *

 **Four weeks later…**

Lisbon placed her bag down on the side table before making her way through her old home to the kitchen area. It had been over a month since her last visit to see Alex when he had first been transferred from Nevada. Nurse McCarthy had been keeping her updated weekly with his progress. He was recovering well from his stab wounds and so far keeping to his home arrest conditions.

The sound of the back door swinging lightly in the wind alerted her that Alex and Shane were out in the garden enjoying the warm weather. Shane was no longer living full time with Alex now he was more mobile, but the care nurse was coming over daily. Lisbon moved to the back door to discover Shane and Alex tending to a little homemade vegetable patch they had created. A small smile graced her lips as she watched the unlikely pairing happily pottering around the mud together and unaware she was watching them.

Moving away from the back door Lisbon grabbed herself a glass of cool water from the fridge. The afternoon sun was hitting hard, and in her current condition it was making her extremely thirsty. Already five months gone, her small bump was growing larger and larger with each passing day she noticed. Cho had placed her on light field duties the minute she had told him she was expecting which, in turn, had delighted Jane.

Glancing around the kitchen Lisbon's eye was drawn to an open shoe box that sat on the table. She gently peeked inside the mystery box, curious to see its contents. Inside she discovered a pile of old photos and some tattered old letters addressed to Alex. She picked up the top photo to take a closer look. It was a photo of a young, attractive woman with long blonde curly hair. By the style of her clothes and the faded quality of the picture it must have been taken in the late 60s with the woman being no more than 18 or 19 years of age, she hazarded a guess.

"That's Annette. My wife."

Alex's low smooth voice broke the silence, startling Lisbon and making her drop the photograph back in the box. Her cheeks flushed pink, embarrassed she had been caught red handed snooping. Alex smiled warmly at her as he entered the kitchen, letting her know that he wasn't angry. He slowly moved towards the kitchen sink aided by a walking stick that now helped get him around the house. Whilst his stomach injuries had healed up nicely, the chemotherapy for his cancer was making him feel weak and the stick helped him move about. Alex wore a red baseball cap most days to hide the fact he was losing his silver coloured hair as well as losing over half a stone in weight, making him appear much smaller and more frail then he had ever seemed before.

"She's beautiful," Lisbon told him, picking up the old photo again. Lisbon had never seen a picture of Jane's mother before. She was the spitting image of her son. They both had the same sea green eyes, blonde curly hair and identically shaped nose. Whilst Annette Jane had a pretty smile, it was his father Jane had inherited his winning smile from. Alex moved to stand beside Lisbon, gently taking the old picture back from her hands. She watched her father in law closely, intrigued by his intense gaze towards the woman in the picture as his mind raced with old memories.

"Yes she was, us Jane men have always had good taste in women." Alex told her, playfully nudging Lisbon on the arm. He sat down at the kitchen table, needing to rest his weary legs but still holding on to his wife's photo. He gently ran his fingertips over the photo whilst Lisbon quietly pulled up a chair as she watched him.

"You must miss her," Lisbon probed gently after a moment. Tears threatened to fall, but Alex held it together, even if his voice broke as he spoke. "Every single day," he whispered. This was the first time she had witnessed a softer and more vulnerable side to Alex Jane since he'd entered her life. Out of embarrassment and in attempt not to cry openly Alex shifted his gaze away. He set the photo down, staring up at wall in front of him instead. Lisbon remained silent, letting the man take a few minutes to gather his thoughts. She had the gut feeling that in the forty-four years since losing his wife Alex Jane had never really spoken about her or her death that much. Surprisingly he continued to open up to her without prompt.

"She was always a good judge of character, so god knows why she ended up marrying me," Alex chuckled ironically. "A very compassionate woman," he added sincerely before looking back at his daughter in law. "Much like you."

Lisbon smiled coyly at his compliment.

"I met her one summer. Her uncle and aunt travelled with our circuit and she came to spend the summer with them." A happy smile graced the older man's face as he remembered a fond memory of his late wife.

"I went to her trailer every day, took her flowers or chocolates or gifts to try win her attention but she sent me away with my tail between my legs most days. I was young, no real experience with women, but then on the last night before she was set to leave she turned up at my trailer." Alex's smile grew wider as he remembered that moment. "Anyone who says old romantic gestures and hounding a woman until she submits don't work are wrong," he joked. Lisbon and Alex both chuckled at his silly remark. Her own memories of Jane's romantic gestures over the years flooded back to her. Part of her agreed that the romantic side to Jane had always secretly won her over even if she had never let him know that.

Alex leaned over to the shoe box and pulled out more old photos. Amongst the small pile was a picture of him and Patrick photographed together. Patrick was just a baby, no more than a year old, laughing whilst Alex blew on his little neck. Lisbon smiled as Alex passed her the picture of estranged father and son together, suddenly wondering if her own baby would be a little chubby like its father had been.

"We married about four months later," Alex explained, "then she told me she was pregnant with Paddy." Alex stared at another photo of him and Annette pictured together. "Eighteen years of age, newly married, child on the way. My whole world changed when I met her that summer, I had to grow up pretty fast. Or at least I tried to."

Lisbon could hear the disappointment in Alex's voice as he spoke. Lisbon watched as the tears returned to the man's eyes. "Then…" Alex hesitated, swallowing hard, "three years later, everything in my world changed again. She found a lump on her breast. It all seemed to happen so quick."

Lisbon's own eyes glistened when she witnessed the genuine sadness and grief upon Alex's face, seeing first-hand how affected he was even after all these years by his wife's death. Lisbon gently placed her hand on his which he gripped, needing the support.

"She was taken from me just like that." Alex squeezed Lisbon's hand tighter, in way of comfort and not wanting to fall apart. He hadn't ever really spoken about Annette or her sudden death with anyone before, the only memories left of his wife hidden away in a tatty old shoe box for the past forty years.

"Twenty-two years of age she was when she died." Alex clenched his other fist trying not to let his emotions show. Lisbon remained quiet seeing how much he was struggling. "My whole world crumpled that day and it's felt like it's just kept on crumpling ever since."

Alex put the photo down, running his hand down his face as emotion and grief threatened to spill out. Now highly embarrassed, Alex wiped his eyes dry, attempting to gain some control of his emotions once more. He wasn't sure why he was even talking about it all, maybe knowing he was now dying of the same cruel disease was making him want to face his past.

"I drank heavily after that, gambled, took drugs, anything to try and avoid the pain of losing Ann. Annette's aunt and uncle and Pete helped look after Paddy when he was very very young. He was just a baby, he didn't know what was happening." Alex remained focused on the picture in his hands. He paused for a moment before he looked up at his daughter in law. "Losing Annette changed me… and Paddy paid the price," he told her with honest regret. Remaining quiet Lisbon nodded at his statement, not wanting to interrupt and feeling he needed to get it off his chest.

"I do know I was a crappy father, I do," he told her shamefully glancing towards the picture of son and father together. "But Patrick running off with that Ruskin girl was a big betrayal. You don't abandon your own. Not in the Carney world," Alex voiced, sounding more bitter with every word spoken. The regret he had felt moments earlier was quickly replaced by anger towards his son once more.

"Do you blame him?" Lisbon asked, speaking for the first time since Alex started opening up. Alex shot her a firm disgruntled look. He still felt betrayed by his son and was still harboring a grudge over it. Wounds were too deep to heal after all these years on both sides and all because of the tragic death of a loved one. Both father and son had been heavily affected by the tragic deaths of their wives. The only difference was that Alex couldn't ever seek revenge for his loss.

Alex shrugged, not totally agreeing with Lisbon's statement. Carney folk didn't turn their backs on their own no matter what happened, it was how he was raised and how he thought Paddy had been too.

"I miss her." Alex's voice broke again as he was overcome with emotion. He quickly brushed away a fallen tear, embarrassed for openly crying in front of her. "The only thing that kept me going after she died was making a quick buck." Alex smiled at his daughter in law. "You must think I am really pathetic." He wiped away another tear threatening to fall.

"No, I don't think you are pathetic, Alex. Just a man consumed by his grief. My father was the same way." Lisbon shifted in her chair, not always finding it easy to talk about her own father.

Seeing Alex wanted to know more she spoke up. "My father never got over the loss of my mother." Lisbon unconsciously ran her hand up her fore arm, her fingers tips caressing a small scar her father had given her one time in one of his drunken violent outbursts. "Problem was my dad didn't have the drive of conning people to keep him going." Lisbon fiddled anxiously with her hands, breaking her gaze from the older man who was now keenly watching her with intrigue. "Not even the love of his children was enough," she told him sadly. It was Lisbon's turn to wipe away a runaway tear. "He took his own life. Shot himself," she told him, trying to hold in her grief and turmoil like she always did when discussing her father's suicide.

With that Alex un-expectantly leaned over, pulling Lisbon into a gentle hug. He had always guessed she had had a damaged childhood, that much was obvious, but he never knew the real extent of the reasons why. At first Lisbon tensed at his gesture, but eventually relaxed, returning the comforting hug back. The sound of the back door creaking open and a gush of warm air alerted the pair they were in company. Shane paused awkwardly when he saw Alex and his daughter in law sharing a moment together, knowing he had just interrupted something private.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I will come back-"

"No, no it's fine," Lisbon reassured the nurse, grateful for a distraction from her trip down memory lane. Thinking and talking about her late father was always hard, it was something she hadn't done in a good long while. Their discussion about both their pasts had been emotional for both. It was interesting to hear Alex's version of his life, have him open up and be fully honest with her. She knew it wasn't easy for a man like him.

Moving the subject matter on to other things, Lisbon got up to get herself another water from the fridge. "So why don't you guys show me this new vegetable patch you have created," she added, now back in control of her emotions once again. "I am hoping I will get some home grown goodies."

"Hey, that's an idea, Shane, we could sell these vegetables, make a few bucks by selling them to the neighbours… those prize winning carrots would be a hit! "Alex said, his eyes lighting up with glee at his new found business idea.

"NO!" Lisbon and Shane replied in unison, both chuckling at the man who always managed to be thinking about making a quick buck, even when he was under house arrest. Alex's beaming smile slumped into a sulky frown as the pair quickly killed off his new business dream. "Come on, Donald Trump, show me these carrots," Lisbon quipped, making her way out to her old back garden followed closely by the two bickering men behind her.

* * *

"Hey, you're back early," Jane greeted as Lisbon made her way into their cabin. The fact she was visiting his father was still a sore subject between them but he was trying in vain to make a conscious effort to at least pretend he was okay with it and had accepted her decision. She had promised to only visit his father once a month and true to her word it had been four weeks since her last visit.

"Well, your father is doing very well," she replied, knowing Jane was making an effort for her sake. "Shane was starting dinner for them, so I felt it was time to leave." Jane rolled his eyes when her back was turned and he was unseen, not able to fully let go of his resentment to his father's new prison sentence. He focused back on reading one of the pregnancy books whilst she disposed of her jacket and bag. Lisbon made her way over to his leather couch linking her arms around Jane's neck and leaning down to place a soft kiss upon his cheek.

"He was telling me about your mother, actually. Showing me some pictures of her," she said gently, not sure on how Jane would respond to this news. She instantly felt Jane's body tense but he quickly relaxed, not wanting to show he had been affected and put his mask back in place.

"Pictures? I am surprised that man can even remember her name," he cruelly jibed as Lisbon moved to sit next to him on the couch.

"Of course he does. Alex loved your mother, Jane."

Jane chuckled out loud in a mocking way, not taking his eyes of the page he was reading. "Oh, trust me, Teresa; he certainly wasn't loving my mother when he brought some drunken slapper back to our trailer or when he sold all her belonging to gamble on the big poker game," Jane said bitterly.

"And, if I recall correctly, he once got steaming drunk and burned all her pictures, then flatly refused to speak of her ever again." Jane turned the page of his book a little more fiercely than he needed to, clearly having been effected and unable to hide it.

Lisbon moved to sit closer to her husband. It hadn't been her intention to upset him with this news, she just wanted to share it with him. She gently stroked his arm, placing her head against his shoulder which he in turn leaned towards. He kissed her hair as he let his anger towards his father simmer for a few minutes.

"He still has some pictures of your mother," she told him gently. "He has pictures of him and her together… and even some of you too," she added, hoping that would soften Jane's stance a little. "Quite the little chubbster when you were younger, weren't we?" she smirked, looking up at her husband. Jane remained stony faced and rolled his eyes, trying so hard not to grin at her playful remark. "It's called baby fat, Teresa," he sighed.

Lisbon's own grin grew bigger. "Hmm, baby fat? Really? Because Pete told me your baby fat lasted until you were at least the age of seven." Jane slowly turned his head to look at his wife as he narrowed his eyes at her, not at all happy that Pete had spilled that little childhood secret and knowing full well that this was just the beginning of her teasing on the matter. He shook his head as his wife's laughter filled the room. They sat together for a while, enjoying some time together, Jane focused on his reading whilst Lisbon enjoyed being in his arms.

"Okay, well I am going to go lie down before dinner," Lisbon told him, sitting up and placing a kiss to his shoulder before heading out of the room. Reaching the door way she paused, giving thought to everything she had learned that day and turned back to look at Jane once again.

"People handle grief in different ways. Some take themselves away from the world; some distance themselves from the ones they love. Some turn to drink or drugs, some even locked themselves in an attic for a decade and seek revenge." Jane's head turned with a look of surprise, not quite sure where she was going with these words.

"There are many things I don't know about what you went through as a kid, Jane, but one thing I am 99% sure of is your father really did love your mother. I even believe he was a different man back then." Lisbon watched as Jane raised a sceptical eyebrow at her statement.

"Your wife's death changed you, Jane. I believe it was the same for your father," she told him, hoping that even if he couldn't ever forgive his father, at least he would know that he did love his mother. Realising his wife was trying to comfort him, Jane gave her a small smile, appreciating her concern and care. As she turned to walk away, Jane called out to her. "I will be in in a bit to check on you," he told her, hoping she would know that he did appreciate her love and words of comfort even if he struggled to believe them.

* * *

Wylie's head spun sideways as the door of the darkened empty interview room opened. It was late in the evening and most of the FBI building had emptied out for the day. He hadn't been expecting to see anyone else around the bullpen.

"What are you doing in here?" Wylie demanded as Lily Pullman walked through the door with her laptop and some case files in her hands. She didn't respond to his question until she arrived at the table he was sat at. She smiled sweetly at him, placing her laptop down next to his. Seeing the disgruntled look on Wylie's face and sensing she wasn't welcome by the IT tech agent, Lily sighed heavily. "Mr Jane asked me to come," she told him, taking a seat at the end of the desk feeling rather unwelcome.

Wylie's eyes widened at her response, not hiding the fact he was little put out that Jane was asking this woman. who they barely knew to join in their secret investigations. "Really?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?" she snapped, finally having enough of the third degree from the man. A little hurt he didn't want her there.

"No, no problem," Wylie lied unconvincingly. They sat in silence both typing away on the laptops in front of them, ignoring the tension in the room. Eventually Wylie spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "So, how's life up on the fifth floor? Caught any big Mafia bosses for tax evasion lately?" he jibed. Whilst he had landed IT Tech for the Special Crimes Unit, Pullman had been lumbered with business corruption and fraud. Not exactly the most interesting or exciting part of the FBI.

"Business fraud is a serious offence, Wylie," she said angrily, knowing he was intentionally mocking her. Wylie held his hands up in surrender, letting her know he hadn't meant any offence. "I really miss the Special Crimes Unit and the bullpen," she added sadly.

"We miss you too," he replied. Both he and Pullman looked perplexed at his response to that. Before either of them could think anymore on the matter, the door of the interview room opened to reveal a happy looking Patrick Jane.

"Ah, my two favorite tech agents," Jane said, greeting the two agents who he noticed looked a little guilty over something. Jane pulled up a chair, getting straight down to matters. "So Wylie, what did you find?" Wylie's eyes flickered over to Pullman, still not quite believing she was part of this secret investigation he and Jane were on. Jane, sensing the tension between the two, confirmed everything was okay. "It's okay. Pullman knows we are working behind the scenes on the Austin Killer case. She will be helping us." Wylie shot Jane a look of hurt but quickly recovered when Jane stared him down.

"Well, I made copies of all the case files before we transferred them all over to the new team. It looks like Mitchell's team isn't following up on the lead with Alan Turner or Innotech, as there is not enough evidence, and Schultz has ordered it be dropped."

Jane hummed, not happy with this development. He had at least hoped the new team would have found something on the man. It had been four weeks since he and Wylie went to Innotech and Jane had discovered this Alan Turner as a new number one suspect.

"I've been looking at the profiles of all the victims," Pullman interrupted, earning an annoyed glare from Wylie, hoping to deliver better news. Jane smiled, happy to see she was using her own initiative and assisting them with asking. "I've noticed they all have something in common," she added.

"Such as?" Wylie said sharply, not liking the fact that Pullman had outdone him on the information front. He had researched all victims' backgrounds several times and found no link between the five dead women.

"Well, one, they all have a tattoo on their back," Pullman started.

"Bit thin isn't it?" Wylie rolled his eyes, having spotted that similarity himself but didn't believe it was connected in any way. His animosity towards the woman was building up slowly that even Jane was surprised by Wylie's offish manner but he remained silent on the matter. For now.

Pullman didn't react, ignoring Wylie's bitterness towards her. She wasn't sure what his problem was or if she had done anything to offend him. Or maybe he was just pissed because he had a secret man crush on Mr Jane and wanted him all to himself she thought to herself. But she wasn't going to let Wylie push her out and continued on confidently, "True, so then I hacked into the website and looked at their private web profiles. When you set up a new profile on this website you have to put in your sexual likes and dislikes and I noticed all five women selected the same options."

"Which were?"

"Well… the normal stuff. Sex, foreplay and…" Pullman quickly glanced at the two men, suddenly very aware of the subject matter and feeling a little self conscious about what she was saying.

"And…" Jane probed, sensing the woman was becoming shy. Pushing passed her own personal embarrassment and realising she needed to be professional if they were to catch this klller, Pullman continued. "They all selected that they liked… erotic punishment."

"You mean… spanking?" Jane grinned when Wylie's cheeks flushed bright pink at his conclusion and the words he had just spoken out loud to the woman he secretly fancied.

"Yes. And light bondage. The database then matches their likes up with others on the site who into the same thing. That's how the site works," Pullman explained to the pair.

"So, all the women had same sexual interests. Interesting." Jane pondered this information for a minute, tapping his finger against his lips in deep thought. "This explains how our victims end up in handcuffs so willingly," he added.

"The killer may have forced them to wear them," Wylie said.

"No, I don't think so. I think the killer leads them into a false state of security and then when he has them where he wants them, things turn nasty. Good job, Pullman. At least we know how our victims are linked in all of this." Jane smiled brightly at the younger woman, happy to have a little bit more knowledge than they had before. Wylie rolled his eyes sighing when he saw Pullman go all gooey eyed and smug by Jane's appraisal.

Deciding it was time for more action and less talk, Jane stood up and paced around the small room. "Pullman, can you to set up loads of fake profiles on these online websites? Women who are between 25-35 and all have the same sexual preferences as our previous victims and killer?"

"Yeah, of course, sir."

"Please don't call me sir, you make me feel very old when you do, Lily." Jane winked playfully at the young woman, letting her know he wasn't really offended.

"Sorry, yes, Jane."

"I want you to use the same type of wording our other victims used, we need to draw out our killer. Dangle a carrot in front of him," Jane added.

"Since the murders these types of sites have lost a lot of clientele. They have gotten bad press," Pullman told them as she typed frantically on her own laptop making a note of what she needed to do.

"Good, that should help us catch our killer quicker then." Jane clapped his hands together, glancing down at his watch. He had told Lisbon he wouldn't be long and he wanted to get home to her as soon as possible to make sure she was putting her feet up and resting, not cleaning out the kitchen or something equally as strenuous. Suddenly very aware that he hadn't contributed much to this little gathering or tactical moves in catching the killer, Wylie piped up. "I can put an alert out on all IP addresses and on those certain wording. If killer uses certain key words to his victims and in his emails that will help narrow it down for us if we get a hit, hopefully."

"Good, well it's a start," Jane told them, moving to the door and knowing that this plan was always going to take some time. He had left it for a few weeks, wanting the killer to feel relaxed and at ease and believing no one was onto him or investigating him. Thankfully the killer hadn't struck again clearly wanting to keep a low profile confirming even more to jane that Alan turner was their killer. "I will leave you both to it. Oh and remember-"

"Keep it quiet and don't tell Cho," Both Agents said in unison as Jane beamed a big grin, slipping out the door and leaving them alone once again. Both Pullman and Wylie began packing their laptops away. Seeing Wylie had a face like a smacked ass and knowing she was clearly the reason why, she confronted the man head on. "Do you have a problem with me Wylie?"

Wylie refused to look at her. "No."

"No? Really? Because it seems like you do. Have I done something to offend you?"

"No, you haven't done anything" he repeated sighing, shoving his laptop into his bag and immediately heading towards the exit becoming increasingly annoyed. Before he could leave Lily had swiftly made her way over to him, grabbing his arm and swinging him back round to look at her.

"Do you know what?! I give up even trying with you, Jason. I know you have had a rough time this past year but that doesn't give you the right to act like a complete prize jackass, you were like this when we worked together and-"

In that moment, seeing her all het up and angry, Wylie stared into her sparkly blue eyes and found his reaction was to swiftly grab her up in his arms and press his lips firmly down on hers. They remained this way for a few seconds before finally breaking apart both stunned by his actions/

It took a few seconds for Pullman's brain to react to what had just happened. They were still standing so close she could feel his heavy breaths against her face, their lips only inches apart from one another's. "What was that?" She whispered not sure if she was angry or flattered by Wylie surprise and unexpected move towards her. As she slowly moved closer into Wylie, he stilled her, placing a hand upon her shoulder, having had time to come to his senses. He wasn't sure why he had kissed her, maybe he just wanted to stop excessive talking or maybe he completely lost his sanity, again.

"I'm sorry," he told her regretfully. Being sexually forward wasn't something he had ever really succeeded in, even as sexually charged hormonal teenager he was never a big hit with the ladies, so he was left wondering what the hell had just gotten into him. With that Wylie backed away from Lily looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Seeing Wylie was pulling away and the look of fret on his face she reached out for him but Wylie continued to step away.

He quickly fled the small interview room, leaving the poor Lily all alone and slightly hurt by his completely mixed signals towards her. This was going to make them working together a whole lot more complicated.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi all. A big big thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter and for the new follows. It very encouraging to know people are still reading my story. I just want you all to know how much it means to me. Thank you. x**

 **I am not 100% happy with this chapter TBH. I started it before I went on holiday and I have been messing around with it for days since I've come back but I have made the decision to post it regardless. On a positive you will be happy to know that I have already started on the next chapter, which I have found to be a lot fun to write so far. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I want to own The Mentalist but sadly that's not the case. *sighs***

* * *

It had been a fairly quiet morning in the bullpen with the Serious Crimes team looking through old unsolved case files. Since handing over the serial killer case the work load had been a lot quieter. Jane had spent most of the morning napping on his couch, uninterested in trying to help, only arising from his slumber to make his precious tea or check on his wife and if she needed anything.

Lisbon's cell vibrated violently against her desk, pulling Jane awake from one of those sleepy times. The disappointment he heard in his wife's tone made him focus fully on her, swinging his legs off the couch and sitting upright.

"Ok thanks for letting me know, can you send me the address?" Lisbon replied to the person on the other end of the line, trying to keep the volume of her voice low. "Thanks."

"Problem?" Jane enquired, standing once Lisbon had ended the call approaching her slowly from behind.

"No," she replied, being a tad too snippy with her response, alerting Jane to the fact something was very wrong. One guess who exactly that phone call was in regards to. "Cho, I need to leave. There's a problem with Alex," she explained, calling out across the bullpen to her boss. Everyone in the team had been waiting for this moment to happen and she knew her colleagues all believed her to be a fool for trusting the old conman, allowing him back to Texas.

"Ok. No problem. Let me know if you need anything." Cho nodded, spotting the look of awkward embarrassment on his friend's face, giving Lisbon permission to leave early. Lisbon grabbed her bag before moving across the busy room to the elevators. Feeling her cell vibrate in her hand she glanced down to the screen. Having been distracted with her phone she failed to see Jane was now standing alongside her. He remained quiet, focusing ahead on the elevator doors. "I am coming with you. For support," he told her after a minute of feeling Lisbon's eyes upon him.

"What? So you can tell me you told me so?" she snipped taking her own anger and frustrations out on the man. This wasn't Jane's fault. He had told her that his father would let her down, again, and he looked to be right. She only had her pig stubborn self to blame for this inevitable outcome.

Jane turned his head towards his wife, frowning a little at her cold words. "No, not at all. I want to be there for you, to be supportive" he told her sincerely. Whilst he would admit he did normally enjoy being right and lording it over others, he wouldn't ever do that with her, not even in regards to his no good father.

The doors of the large silver elevator opened and Jane stepped in with a solemn Lisbon following in his footsteps. As the doors slid shut he placed his hand in hers, neither saying anymore on the matter which she was grateful about.

They drove across town in a comfortable silence. Lisbon focused on the road ahead, preparing mentally for what she was going to say Alex when she saw him. It was Jane's smooth tone that finally brought her out of her thoughts. "So, are you ever going to tell me about what Andrews did at the gala night?" he asked casually studying his wife reactions.

The black SUV swerved to the left as Lisbon's head spun round, shocked by his unexpected question. "What?"

"You and Andrews? The gala night? Ready to share?"

"I…we…I… nothing happened," she replied far too quickly before focusing back on the road, suddenly wishing she was a quicker and better liar.

"Well, now I know for sure something _did_ happen," Jane smirked when Lisbon's head shot back around to him again, giving him her normal stunned expression.

He sighed seeing he'd have to explain himself. "For weeks Andrews has been moping around like he lost $100 dollars and found a dime. He can hardly look you in the eye, Teresa, or me for that matter, which was the complete opposite to a few weeks back where he practically followed you around like a little lovesick puppy, so, my guessing is he made a move on you and you rejected him," Jane told her, seeing that his guesses were absolutely correct when Lisbon's eyes widened wider and wider as he hit every assumption correctly on the head.

"It wasn't quite like that," she eventually answered, seeing there was no point in denying it now Jane had brought it up so unexpectedly.

"No?"

"He… he didn't make a move, as such." Last thing she wanted Jane thinking was that she was off smooching her colleague when they had been trying to fix their broken marriage.

"Hmmm," Jane replied, contemplating her words as the penny finally dropped. "Ah! He told you he loved you."

"How do you know that?"

Jane chuckled. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't keep asking me that once we were married."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, deciding to come clean about the whole silly incident. She couldn't deny that things had been slightly awkward between her and Andrews ever since that night and it was only a matter of time before Jane called her on it.

"Okay, yes he did, but Sean doesn't love me, he was just very drunk and I told him straight that I didn't feel the same way." Lisbon shook her head remembering how a drunken Andrews had declared his undying love for her out on the terrace.

Jane smirked, watching his wife's face reliving that awkward memory. She really had no idea the power she held over men or the deep affect she could have on them, especially with her stunning natural beauty and strong, independent, caring and compassionate nature. A strong and soft mix with beauty was always winner.

"Good. Never doubted it," Jane told her looking back out of the passenger window, satisfied with her answer. Hearing the slight uncertainty through all his bravado, Lisbon turned her head from the road again glancing at him once more. "Really?"

"Well, I was 98% sure of it," he answered back with a casual shrug.

"Wow, a whole 2% unsure, huh?" Lisbon grinned when Jane's confident mask wavered ever so slightly. "Is the famous Patrick Jane insecure over me?" she teased.

"Oh hush, woman. Keep your eyes on the road." Jane winked playfully before going back to looking out the window. Lisbon's ability to read him was spot on these days, through all his masked confidence and cockiness she could always see the real him underneath it all. He wasn't particularly worried about Andrews, he was more worried that Lisbon would finally come to her senses, work out she deserved so much better than some as broken as him and find someone else to love.

Ten minutes later Lisbon swung the black SUV up to Austin General Hospital. Killing the ignition, she climbed out of the vehicle with Jane mirroring the same action. Jane looked up at the large beige building in front of him wondering if his no good father had been injured in his attempt to escape house arrest, hoping it wasn't anything too serious he wanted Alex's lousy ass back behind bars as soon as possible.

"Hi, I am FBI Agent Lisbon. Local PD called me to say a Mr Alex Jane was here." Lisbon looked around the large reception area of the busy hospital. She also too assumed Alex had been brought here by Local PD for some sort of medical treatment, probably hurting himself trying to flee the police.

The receptionist tapped away on her PC as Lisbon and Jane patiently waited. "Ah, yes. The officers are down the hall in the ER waiting room, through the doubles door to the left." The plump woman pointed them towards the ER department down the hall. As they entered through the double swing doors they approached a large open plan waiting area, spotting two Local PD officers standing talking amongst themselves. Inhaling a deep breath Lisbon put on her professional persona and approached the uniformed men.

"Hi. I am Agent Lisbon. You called me in regards to Alex Jane." Having spotted a tired looking Alex sitting behind the two officers Lisbon shot the old man a quick annoyed glare. But Alex didn't respond, he sat staring at the floor with his head hung down, his wrists restrained tightly in cuffs.

"Agent Lisbon, I'm Officer Tunwell, ma'am." One of the officers shook Lisbon's hand, glancing down to her baby bump obviously not expecting the FBI agent to be a woman or in the family way. Jane lingered a little way behind his wife remaining quiet, letting her handle the situation. He knew she was upset by Alex's failures and needed to deal with this matter in her own way.

"Mr Jane's ankle tag alerted us to this location, ma'am. He claims he brought in-" The officer paused flicking through his note book searching for a name, "…Mrs Evelyn Melton. He claims he brought her here to the emergency room."

Lisbon's angry stance instantly fell away upon recognising the woman's name and guessing that this situation wasn't what it first appeared to be. "What happened, Alex?" Lisbon moved to sit down beside her father in law. Jane watched her as his memory place quickly began opening doors, frantically trying to remember who the hell Mrs Evelyn Melton was. Finally, the correct palace door opened. Mrs Melton was his old next door neighbour with the troublesome fur ball of a cat who had caused so many issues between them.

"I found her lying in her backyard, unconscious," Alex explained. "I called for an ambulance but it was taking too long so I drove her here myself." Alex slowly opened his clenched fist showing Lisbon he was still holding Mrs Melton's car keys so she knew he was telling the truth.

"It's all my fault. I shouted at her," Alex explained. "That stupid cat. It keeps crapping all over my vegetable patch." Alex looked up, his face paling even more when he saw his annoyed son glaring at him from behind the two officers. Trying to ignore that fact he continued, "We had a big argument over the garden fence and I called her a few harsh names." Alex darted his eyes downwards, highly ashamed thinking back to that moment.

Lisbon sighed. She knew exactly how sharp and harsh Alex Jane's tongue could be in a heated moment. Like father like son. She had watched enough football matches with the older man to know the poor referees had been called a few crude names in their time.

"When I came out in the back yard a little while later, I saw her just lying there." Alex's eyes glistened as he spoke. "If she dies, it my fault, isn't it?" he asked, his eyes pleading for answers. While Alex Jane was many bad things in this world he certainly wasn't a cold blooded killer. Especially of little old women.

Jane folded his arms across his chest as he watched the scene unfold between his wife and his no good excuse of a father. For a split second even he believed his father to be almost genuine. Alex Jane was really laying it on thick this time, he thought silently to himself, rolling his eyes when he saw Lisbon gently squeeze his father's hand in loving gesture and support.

Lisbon smiled sympathetically, seeing Alex was really worried he had killed the annoying busybody next door. "No, Alex, it isn't your fault." Lisbon stood up approaching the two officers waiting for further instructions. "It's ok officers, we will take over from here," she instructed them, requesting they remove Alex's handcuffs.

"Are you sure, ma'am? We can take him in and charge him for breaking his bail conditions- "

"No, it's fine. This was a one off incident that won't be repeated. I will explain it to my superiors at the FBI. He won't do it again. I can promise you," Lisbon confirmed, relieved to know Alex hadn't left the house trying to escape, at least. She could see a deep unhappy frown appearing on her husband's face. Nine times out of ten Jane was right on these sorts of things but she couldn't help be secretly happy he had been wrong about this time. Only a handful of times, in all the years she had known Patrick Jane had he got things wrong. Trusting Lorelei Martins was a prime example of one those times, but she didn't ever throw that in his face as neither one of them had come out of that time very well.

"There will be no need to take this matter any further," Lisbon confirmed to local PD. She smiled kindly at the officers who were satisfied to leave Mr Alex Jane in her custody and head out of the hospital on their way. Jane couldn't help roll his eyes skywards once the two officers walked away. His wife was believing the old fraudster's story without even checking it out first. "I will go speak to the nurse, check this out," Jane stated, heading over to the ER nurse's desk, wanting full confirmation that Mrs Melton was at death's door and not some part of his father's plans to escape.

A few minutes later a disgruntled looking Jane retuned, confirming Mrs Melton had indeed suffered a heart attack and that her niece was on her way. Jane sat down heavily on one of the waiting chairs glaring angrily at the man next to Lisbon. He wasn't used to being proven wrong, especially by his own father. Alex looked up, fear instantly crossing his face at seeing his son in person again since his prison release. Realising this was the first time the pair had seen each other since Jane's kidnapping, Lisbon knew she needed to create some space between the two before fireworks kicked off again. No way she could have the two men in the same car as each other so she needed to keep them apart for now. It was for the best.

"Come on, we need to get you back home, Alex." She gently lifted him from the chair helping the unsteady man onto his feet, letting him take her arm for some balance. Alex was exhausted from the day's excitement. He was weak and unwell himself. Helping poor Mrs Melton had taken it completely out of him physically. Jane studied his father appearance for a few seconds, seeing how frail the man actually looked. Before Jane could think any more about the matter, Lisbon spoke up.

"Don't worry, Patrick will stay here until Mrs Melton's niece turns up to take care of her, won't you, Patrick?" she said, wanting to reassure Alex that Mrs Melton wouldn't be left alone and devising a plan to keep the two men separated. Jane's sea green eyes widened in horror at his wife's words. It took all of her strength not to smirk at his disgruntled expression now staring up at her.

"I thought you came along to be supportive?" she stated with a hint of amusement to her tone purely at Jane's expense.

Jane sighed bitterly, knowing there was no getting out of this one. He had claimed he wanted to come along for support, unfortunately his own words were coming back to bite him hard on the ass.

"You most likely saved Mrs Melton's life, Alex, but you can't leave the house, under no circumstances, do you understand? If you leave, you will go back to jail. Those are the conditions of house arrest," Lisbon explained, her soft voice trailing away as she helped the frail man through the swing doors of the ER. Jane was left sitting in a drab ER waiting room, suddenly wondering how this whole fiasco had turned back around on him.

A skinny man with a heavily bruised face and his arm in a temporary sling sitting a few chairs away offered Jane a questionable looking piece of candy. He half-heartedly declined the man's offer. He couldn't believe that he had come along to give his wife some much needed support before they dragged his father's sorry ass back to prison, but instead he was now playing nurse maid to his busybody neighbour instead.

Things were seriously not going his way, Jane thought to himself as he grabbed an old copy of Cosmo to pass away the time until Mrs Melton's niece arrived.

* * *

 **Two days Later**

Jane and Wylie sat quietly in the dark SUV parked a hundred yards from Alan Turner's house. They had set up several fake accounts on different sex sites trying to entice the killer out from hiding and had several hits, unfortunately nothing had flagged up as suspicious, until now.

It had been very surprising how many people signed up for casual sex. Pre-planned sex with strangers was the in thing, apparently. Long gone were the days of going to a bar, getting drunk and seeing where the night took you, Jane thought to himself. Not that he had ever done that himself, well, there was that one time in Vegas but that had all been part of his plan to snare Red John so he didn't count that.

"Jane, can I ask you something? Personal?" Wylie said, breaking the silence.

Jane remained focused on reading his book, not lifting his eyes from the page. Whilst normally getting deep and meaningful with another man wasn't his style he had grown very close to the young man over the past six months and he felt it easier to be more open with the Agent. "Sure."

"Did you… I mean…have you…"

"Spit it out, Wylie?" Jane grinned, hearing the awkwardness and embarrassment in the young man's voice, fully aware of how personal this question was likely to be.

"Have you… ever kissed a woman that you shouldn't have?" Wylie said, wincing as he heard the actual words said out loud. Jane's brain instantly flashed up the memory of Erica Flynn to the agent's unusual question. Shifting a little uneasy in the leather seat Jane finally lifted his head focusing on young Wylie sat next to him, not quite sure where this conversation was leading.

He knew why he had kissed Erica; she was a beautiful smart woman who he had found rather intriguing at the time. Unfortunately, he had known it to be the wrong move the minute the kiss had happened. Her escape was evidence of that. She had played him well and truly. Jane quickly dismissed the question being aimed at his own past disastrous liaisons. "Has something happened between you and Pullman?" he enquired curiously.

"What! No!" Wylie exclaimed, lying badly through his teeth. Jane tilted his head, pressuring Wylie to come clean. "Okay, yes. We kissed. In fact, I kissed her," Wylie told him.

A big grin crept up on Jane's face as he studied Wylie fidgeting awkwardly next to him. "Well, well, young Jason. Good for you," Jane told him proudly, happy the young man was not holding back on his real feelings any longer.

"Is it?" Wylie's eyes darted to Jane, looking for answers from the man he looked so fondly up to. "But I don't know why I did it?" he explained, more confused.

"Well, maybe you kissed her because you like her, you are attracted to her and after what happened to Agent Vega you didn't want to waste another opportunity because of your own shyness." Jane told him. "It's okay to like someone, Wylie. Lily is a lovely girl and you should be moving on, enjoying your life. Michelle would want that for you. In fact, I think she would be encouraging you to go for it if she were here."

Wylie's brow frowned, not liking his last statement. He had liked to think that he and Vega would have eventually taken that leap into the romance side of things if she hadn't been killed. "You do?"

"Yes. She would want you to be happy." Jane smiled softly before going back to reading his book.

Wylie pondered the consultant's words for a few seconds. "I guess," he paused before saying, "she is cute." His lips turned up remembering that kiss they had shared at the office.

Fifteen minutes passed with Jane still reading his book whilst Wylie anxiously bounced his knees against the steering wheel occasionally looking at his phone out of boredom. Over an hour they had been sitting outside Alan Turner's house. Wylie had never really enjoyed stake outs, long boring hours, sitting and waiting for something to happen made him feel on edge and tense. After a few minutes Wylie spoke again. "I think Cho is on to us," he said nervously.

Without looking up, Jane responded, "Meh, he just suspects something. He has no real idea what we are doing."

"Really? So why is he standing at our car window?"

Jane quickly glanced sideways to see the stoic agent angrily staring at them through the passenger window. Agent Andrews suddenly appeared at Wylie's window startling the young man half to death. Jane beamed a big Patrick Jane 'winning butter wouldn't melt' smile, pulling down the electronic window to talk to his boss. "Cho! Good to see you. Fancy bumping into you two here."

Cho folded his arms, unimpressed. "What are you doing?"

"Who us? Just enjoying a nice Texan sunset together." Jane turned back to look at Wylie who keenly nodded in agreement to his statement. Cho reframed from rolling his eyes at this pathetic brush off.

"Sunset? In a FBI SUV? Just the two of you? In a residential street, fifty yards from Alan Turner's house," Andrews added, sarcastically not buying that explanation.

"I like this street," Jane remarked to the sceptical sounding man, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Whatever you're doing… stop. Now," Cho ordered, peering into the vehicle glaring at Wylie. "Lisbon said you up to something but you were very cagey about the facts. Now I see why."

Jane sighed. "Fine, you caught us red handed. We are tailing Turner." Jane motioned to them to quickly get out of sight in the quiet residential street. The two agents reluctantly joined Jane and Wylie in the back of SUV. "I have set up several traps online with the help of Wylie and Pullman. We believe the killer, Alan turner, has finally fallen into one. We got a hit from a guy claiming to be a Mark Smith, his wording, grammar and dialog pretty much match the killers with our previous victims. And I am sure Alan turner is that Mark guy, hence why we are here." Jane explained.

Cho eyed Turner's house seeing the lights now being switched on as it turned much darker outside.

"We set up a fake meeting from one of our accounts from the website. We believe the real killer will turn up tonight and reveal himself," Wylie said, pausing looking down at his watch. "In the next twenty minutes or so," he finished, unsure of why Turner hadn't left yet to go to the rendezvous.

"Reveal himself where, and to who?" Cho further questioned, hating this explanation more and more as Jane and Wylie went on with the details. His team had strict instructions from the powers to be to leave this Austin Serial killer case well alone and in typical Jane style he had done the total opposite, even recruiting some of the team to go along with his unauthorised plan.

"Agent Pullman. She is waiting in a trendy bar across town for this 'Mark Smith' to show." Jane replied. Wylie's face contorted having been kept in the dark about this little fact of the plan. He had been under the impression they would pretend to meet the killer and not actually have someone be there waiting. "You never told me she was going to meet him," Wylie stated sharply, his overwhelming concern for his colleague on full show in front of his team mates and not bothering to hide it. "I thought we would just be us turning up and arresting Turner," Wylie expressed, now highly concerned.

Feeling it was three against one Jane huffed. "Relax, Wylie. We will tail Turner, and Pullman will meet him at the bar, then when the time is right we can swoop and take him in."

"You're kidding, right?" Andrews remarked, not quite believing this was all going on.

"Relax will ya, fellas. It will all be fine," Jane said confidently, rolling his eyes at the constant lack of faith and concern he always seem to receive from his team mates in these times. "When do my plans never not come together?" Jane stated confidently, secretly ignoring the mess some of his plans had made in the past too.

"It takes at least forty-five minutes to get across town from here, don't you think Turner is cutting it a bit fine?" Cho added, unimpressed by his consultant's underhanded and secretive antics.

Jane hummed in agreement, a tad thrown a psychopath like Turner was running so late and still watching TV at home. "Well, yes, I agree he is pushing it," Jane agreed looking back at the supervising agent in the back seat of the SUV with a smile. "Maybe he likes to make an entrance"

Andrews' scoffed at this remark. "Bit like you then," he added under his breath. As Jane narrowed his eyes having heard the jibe, his phone beeped, alerting him to an incoming text. Focusing his attention on to his cell, Cho noticed the worried expression appearing on the consultant's face as he read the screen. Wylie also knew instantly something was wrong. "What? What's the matter?"

Jane lowered the phone seemingly in a light trance. "It's Pullman. She text saying some guy claiming to be Mark Smith has just shown up at the bar," he told the three men staring off into the horizon, a little confused by this new development in his what should have been a flawless plan.

Patrick Jane was very rarely wrong in life but in the last two days it seemed he had been totally off the mark with his assumptions. First with his father and now this. To say he felt off balance by it all was an understatement. The only other times Jane had been so off course had been involving Red John cases, he suddenly felt like he gone back 5 years and his whole world had turned on it's head once more.

"Out now. I will drive!" Cho ordered sternly to Wylie who in turn jumped out of the driver's seat and into the back of the SUV joining Andrews. Cho quickly started up the engine turning to look at Jane, "If anything happens to her I am holding you responsible." he barked coldly annoyed that Jane had put one of his team in danger. Jane remained quiet, silently agreeing with Cho as the SUV sped down the road with the four men inside heading to Pullman's known location across town.

How could he have got this all so wrong, Jane thought angrily to himself. He had been 90% sure Turner was the serial killer. Had he really got it all wrong? Was he losing his detective skills and ability to cold read someone since returning from his break? Was he suffering some form of baby brain too? Maybe his break down had more effect to him than he initially realised.

Thirty-eight minutes later the SUV speedily pulled up outside the located bar. All four men jumped out, running into the busy Friday night trade frantically searching for the young female agent. Cho marched over to the busy bar, flashing his badge and a picture of Pullman at the staff. Jane quickly followed him, catching the tail end of his conversation. "What do you mean she left? Where did she go?"

"I don't know; the woman came over faint so some guy she was with helped her outside for some air." The barman stammered not sure why the Agent was worked up and angry.

"Get me the CCTV camera footage," Cho snapped loudly over the music, pointing to the camera in the corner of the bar area.

"I can't," the worried barman replied, "they aren't working at the moment."

Cho inhaled a deep breath trying to tamper down his anger at his luck. Andrews and Wylie had both reappeared, having searching the busy bar for Pullman but with no luck.

"I don't understand. I was sure it was Turner. This is all wrong," Jane mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else, his brain feeling hazy with a thousand different thoughts and emotions. Realising this mess up could hit the consultant pretty hard after everything he had been through in his life Cho decided to help him refocus on other things. "Let's just focus on finding Pullman for now. If this guy is the Austin serial killer Lily could be in serious trouble right now. We need you to be fully focused to help us find her."

Jane nodded, coming back to his senses, knowing he needed to think clearly and not let his own emotions cloud his thoughts. He need to help find where the killer had taken Pullman. "Where would she be? Cho asked.

"Her apartment," Jane answered with a deeply concerned tone to his voice. The pattern of the killer had remained the same at every murder. The girls were found murdered and tortured in their own home. "We need to head there now!" Jane added, quickly pushing through the crowds to the exit of the bar with Wylie, Cho and Andrews following closely behind him.

As they pulled up at Pullman's small apartment block, Wylie immediately jumped out of the SUV before it had a chance to stop, not paying any attention to Cho's pleads for him to stop. All he cared about was lily and her safety. Running up the stair case to Pullman's door and calling out her name, Wylie attempted to kick the door down without much success. He was quickly caught up by Andrews and Cho, all three helped kick the door busting in the lock. Cho and Andrews took the lead entering into the small but neat apartment aiming their guns in every direction, quickly followed by an unarmed Wylie and Jane.

Swiftly moving towards the bedroom hearing loud music playing, they slowly open the door to be greeted by an unknown man pulling Pullman's limp body up onto her bed. The man was quickly and roughly detained by Cho and Andrews who wrestled him to the ground to be cuffed, as Wylie clambered across the bed to see to an unconscious Lily.

"Lily, Lily, it's me, Jason, you know the jackass who inappropriately kissed you in the interview room the other week and ran away, remember?" Wylie said, the clear worry and concern for the woman evident in his tone not caring who heard him. Cho and Andrews lifted the struggling man up off the floor. Cho instructed Andrews to take the creep out of the room whilst they tended to Pullman.

"Come on, Lily, please wake up," Wylie said, rubbing his hand gently down her soft cheek as Jane came over to the bed to help tend to her as well. She was fully dressed and seemed to be physically unharmed, which was a big relief, she has somehow had been drugged and knocked unconscious, no doubt having had her drink spiked when she refused to comply with the killer now in the next room.

"I've called an ambulance," Jane told a frantic Wylie who was still trying in vain to wake the poor girl up. Jane placed his fingers to the pulse point on Lily neck to feel her heart rate. It was slow but still strong and steady. "She will be ok, Wylie, she is safe now," Jane added, a few tears of relief appearing in his own eyes that Pullman was okay and seemingly unharmed. He hadn't counted for his plan to go so wrong or have any real dangers, but it had. Once the paramedics showed up Jane left the bedroom, leaving Wylie and Cho to look after Lily. Jane entered the living area to find Andrews still tightly holding this unknown man.

"Who are you?" Jane asked, clocking the well-groomed, smartly dressed man who in no way looked like a psychopathic killer to the eye. He was six foot, cleanly shaven, even far as to say half way attractive man. He clearly had money and a decent education, if his real Rolex watch was to go by. He was everything Alan turner wasn't.

"Someone who has beat you, Mr Jane," the man scoffed, still trying to get free of Andrews' tight grip.

"Beat me? You don't know me," Jane replied, confused by the man's turn of words and the fact this sicko using his name personally. "Oh… you know Turner," Jane said, his eyes sparkling bright as everything started to fall into place, finally. "That's how he did it. You get the girls for him. You're the good looking catch, snaring and capturing the women for him, am I right? There are two of you in this sick perverse game. There isn't one Austin serial Killer, there is two!"

Jane studied the man closely, seeing his assumption had been correct. "I am not saying anything," the man responded, finally giving up the fight of struggling free. Andrews passed Jane the man's cell phone which the man suddenly froze at. A look of worry crossing his face as Jane swiped the screen.

"Well, well, well, look at this. It's Alan Turner's number," Jane announced as Cho entered the small living area. He flashed the cell phone up showing Cho what he had discovered.

"Let me guess, you met Turner through one of these illegal sexually perverse porn sites. Regular sex isn't enough thrill for a guy like you anymore. You're well bred, got money, looks, no doubt women easily throw themselves at you but you wanted more a challenge, it wasn't enough, so you up the stakes in your perverse sexual desires. Scratch that dark twisted side of you." Jane explained seeing his words were hitting home with the man. "You met Turner online and go along with some sick twisted sexual game of killing and torturing women just for the thrill."

The man looked away with a flash of shame in his eyes confirming to Jane he was absolutely right. Not wanting to give anything incriminating away the man shut down as Jane called him on the truth.

"I want my lawyer," the man stated bitterly, finally looking at Jane and Cho and refusing to say anymore.

"Get him out of here," Cho barked knowing they weren't going to get a straight forward confession anytime soon from this guy. Andrews roughly dragged the man to the door of the apartment.

"Call Lisbon and Tork let them know what's going on and tell them to get into the office to interview this creep. Also call Agent Matthews and fill him in on what we have found," Cho added. Whilst it was technically Matthews team who was handling the serial killer case it had been Cho's team members who had followed the right leads and caught a prime suspect. Cho would make sure they were the team to closed the case down. "Yes boss," Andrews nodded in acknowledgement before disappearing from the apartment with the new suspect.

Seeing Jane's face was still now one of worry Cho softened his voice. "Looks like you were right. Turner is the killer, or at least one of them, we got them, all thanks to you," Cho said, hoping his words would ease the consultant conscience over the mishap that happened earlier with Pullman.

Jane's eyes darted back towards the bedroom, hearing the paramedics talking over Pullman's care. "Will she be ok?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, paramedics say she will be fine in a few hours once the rehypnol drug has worn off," Cho said, looking at the gurney with the young woman lying unconscious on it. "Wylie's going to go to the hospital with her, make sure she isn't alone when she comes round," Cho added.

"So, how do you want to play this? We don't have Turner yet," Cho asked, glancing down at the killer's cell knowing this was the key to catching Turner. Cho decided to let Jane take control seeing as his hunch on Turner had been correct all the way along, even when everyone else wasn't quite sure and the FBI had dropped their line of enquiries into the man.

"Let's catch this sick bastard," Jane stated firmly storming from the apartment to get some air and clear his head.

* * *

Several hours later Alan Tuner turned up outside of Pullman's address, carefully looking around him as he approached the front door of the woman's small apartment making sure there was no one around to see him. He had a received a text from his partner in crime an hour earlier, alerting him that they had got new prey. He knocked loudly, hearing loud playing music from inside the apartment. Turner instinctively touched his holdall bag which carried all the torture equipment. The loud music was always a good sign, meant the woman's screams would be hidden once he got his fun started.

Waiting patiently for his partner in crime to open the front door Turner's grin widened upon hearing the chain of the door being unhooked. Pullman's front door swung open and Alan Turner's smug grin dropped when came face to face with FBI Consultant Patrick Jane and Agent Cho, pointing his gun at him. Realising he had been well and truly played Turner turned to do a runner but was quickly stopped when several other armed FBI agents and local PD officers appeared from the shadows, all pointing guns at him from different directions.

Turner stilled, dropping his bag to the floor slowly raising his hands in the air in surrender. Dropping on to his knees as the armed agents shouted at him to do so. Turner had been under the impression and satisfied the FBI had dropped their line of investigation his way and after several weeks of him and Tim Shields keeping a low profile, they were sure it was safe to return to their hunt for more victims.

Jane slowly approached the psycho from behind, once the man was safely in handcuffs and in custody, looking down at the disturbed psychopath still down on his knees.

"I think you will find that I beat you," Jane whispered callously before walking off without a backwards glance at the man, letting the rest of the law enforcement do their jobs with the one half Austin Serial Killer, named Alan Turner.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi. I am sorry this story hasn't been updated for a while. I had some tough times in my personal life and so this got put aside until I was feeling more myself and able to enjoy my story again. I want to continue this story with more lighter feel which I hope you will enjoy. There's not much crime drama now the main case has been solved but still lots of family/FBI colleague antics to come.**

 **Excuse all the mistakes and grammar hopefully you can still read it. This turned into such a long chapter that I felt bad for asking someone to beta it but I hope to get my betas help in my shorter upcoming chapters. Please be warned there is a M scene in this chapter too. It is marked so you have been warned.**

 **I found it quite** **hard to continue** **after such a long break. I have spent the last two days staring at the screen and trying to add and tweak what I started months ago but I have tried my hardest to get back in the flow, so before I convince myself to give up I am posting.**

 **I had such a nice response to adding Lisbon's brother in my earlier chapter so I was inspired by that when writing this chapter. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or The Mentalist.**

* * *

 **Two weeks later.**

Pullman jumped awake from her cosy nap on the couch to the sound of loud knocking on her apartment door. Assuming her elderly neighbour Mrs Weiss was in trouble or needed her she stood feeling unsteady on her feet as she made her way to the front door. Flinging open the door without looking through the spy hole she was greeted with a worried looking Wylie carrying a large white box under his arm.

"Oh, thank Christ," he said breathing a sigh of relief at seeing her okay. "I was getting worried when you didn't answer." He brushed past her stepping into her small apartment not allowing Pullman a chance to invite him.

"I was sleeping" she replied grumpily shutting the front door behind him.

It had been two weeks since her kidnapping drugging ordeal with the two psychopaths. She was due to return to work that following Monday. Whilst it had been nice for her to take some time to rest and relax she was secretly itching to get back to her job as an FBI agent.

The hospital had confirmed that no real damage had been done and after a few days the doping drugs had full worn off leaving no harm. Physically she was perfectly well, emotionally she was coping and moving on. Wylie had made a point of popping to check on her every few days since she had been discharged. He mainly brought her food and the occasional film for them to watch together. It felt nice to have him around if she was honest, she had never had a real boyfriend or relationship before in her life, always too busy focusing on her career but it was nice to have some male company other than her occasional disastrous date her sister set up for her.

Wylie made himself comfy on her couch placing the box on the coffee table. "I brought you these."

"Doughnuts?" Pullman shook her head not impressed at the sight of the sugary glazed devil rings. The amount of takeaways and sweet stuff Wylie kept bringing she swore she had put on at least a stone since being discharged from hospital.

"Yes, best doughnuts in Austin in my opinion." Wylie bit in to the sugary treat suddenly noticing what Lily was wearing. "Nice outfit." He giggled roaming his eyes over her grey Eeyore onesie with matching grey tail dangling from her rear.

Becoming aware of what she was wearing and not an outfit she wanted her work colleagues to ever see her in, especially Wylie, her cheeks blushed a bright shade of pink. "My grandma brought it for me, for Christmas." She huffed. Sitting down next to Wylie on the couch she quickly pulled the zipper up her body in an attempt to cover some of her cleavage. As she fiddled with her onesie she very aware of the fact she had no underwear on and sitting next to member of the opposite sex.

"Big Winnie the Poo fan, are we?" Wylie playfully teased. Lily immediately stood marching towards the front door. "Well thanks for dropping by Jason." She snapped.

Seeing she was a bad grump when woken up Wylie relented on his teasing. "Ok, ok calm down I am only playing with you. I think it looks cute." He said honestly before turning his attention to the large wide screen TV.

Pullman stopped her movement feeling her heart flutter at his compliment. Jason Wylie wasn't generally the type of guy she fancied, she normally only fancied unrealistic stars of TV or film, although there was that cute beef head from Swat team with a six pack you could wash your clothes on she found very cute. She had spent many a morning workout ogling him in the FBI gym but ever since their unexpected kiss a few weeks ago and with his frequent visits she had found herself thinking about the young IT agent much more, reliving that certain heated kiss especially late at night.

Wylie grabbed the TV remote of the coffee table control turning the volume up. "So what are we watching."

Lily eyes widened in horror as she remembered exactly what she had been watching before she had dozed off. The sound of a woman orgasming filled the air as Wylie increased the volume. "Oh my god" he exclaimed before laughing out loud. "Fifty shades. Seriously? You were watching this?"

"I wasn't watching it," she snapped leaning across the couch grabbing the device from his hands trying to get the noisy sex scene blaring off the screen. Wylie boyish laughter continued to fill the apartment as Lily flustered with the stupid device.

"I was just… I was…" Trying in vain to think of a valid excuse for her trashy film choice she stuttered coming up blank.

She hadn't read any of the books when they had first hit the shops as she had been training too hard at Quantico at the time, didn't have the time to read back then but she was curious to see what all the big fuss was about, which is why she had borrowed the DVD from a friend. The fact she had drifted off to sleep thirty minutes into the film seem to prove to her it was definitely over hyped. Feeling even more embarrassed she immediately got defensive again, marching over to her front door letting wylie know his visit time was up.

"Look, thanks for dropping by but I have things I need do before returning to work on Monday." She told him coldly. She didn't normally allow things to embarrass or to get to her. In fact, she was normally the one causing it with her direct blunt behaviour and lack of tact but ever since their kiss she found herself a little more self-conscious when Wylie was around.

Wylie laughter stopped when he realised she was serious. He couldn't hide the hurt at being kick out. "Oh, okay." he pushed himself off the couch like a little boy scolded. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." he told her softly.

Seeing the puppy dog hurt eyes Lily was instantly overcome with guilt for chucking him out. "I know. And I am." she told him in friendlier tone. Wylie turn in the doorway to face her. "Look I am not Michelle Vega. You don't need to do this Jason. I am going to be okay." Pullman added.

"Is that why you think I am here? Because of Vega?"

"Well, yeah. Isn't it? Why else would you keep coming to check up on me." Pullman studied her colleague not sure how he would react to her bluntness. He always avoided talking about his break down and the real reasons behind it. Whilst he had visited her often since her release from hospital she had no idea why he was doing it and could only guess it was link to his fear of losing another team mate. It felt like hours had gone by before Wylie found the courage to answer. "I come because… I… I care about you." He told her. Lily felt her heart flutter again and inhaled a small breath at his confession.

"Do you?" she probed secretly hoping he would finally admit his feeling for her.

"Yes..." Wylie eyes darted down to the ground feeling incredibly vulnerable. "Enjoy the doughnuts, I will see you back at work on Monday." He added deflated that he had been kicked out so harshly. Pullman silently stood watching as Wylie slowly walked away from her apartment. Having enough of this silly pussy footing around they were both doing and deciding at least one of them should grow a pair Lily took in a deep breath and found some more courage.

"Wylie. Do you fancy dinner?" She called out making the man stop in his tracks and turn around.

"Well, I ate dinner before I …"

"No, I mean would you like to go out for dinner. With me. On a date." Lily stated confidently although she was secretly nervous to what his answer would be.

The fear instantly appearing on Wylie face spoke volumes. "Me and you? On a date?" he replied.

Feeling stupid that she had taken the bull by the horns and it had failed, Lily defences went back up. "It's just dinner Wylie I am not asking you to move in. I can always…"

"No, no a date sounds good. Its sounds… really good." Wylie interrupted and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Lily returned a happy warm smile back. "Ok then, well I pick you up at tomorrow at 8pm." She told him before heading back into her apartment.

"Uh, but aren't I suppose to pick you…" Lily Pullmans front door slammed firmly shut behind her not allowing Wylie to finish. "Okay, clearly not." He said to himself.

A big cheesy smile appeared on his face as he headed back out of the apartment block. The grin still firmly in place as he climbed into his car. He hadn't planned on going out on any dates but he found himself excited by Lily's invite and since kissing her, the full realisation had hit him how much he did actually like her. Jane assumptions had been right as per usual, even though he had really tried to fight it for so long. The heart wants the heart wants as they say and who was he to fight it Wylie happily thought to himself as he pulled his car out of the parking space.

* * *

 **Four weeks later.**

Lisbon stepped into the warmly lit cabin to find jane sat quietly on his couch reading another pregnancy book. "Hey." She greeted sensing something was amiss. Jane stood up welcoming his wife but there was a worried expression hidden behind his smiley mask.

"What's going on?"

Pecking her lightly on the lips Jane motioned his head back towards the kitchen. "Jimmy's here. He's in the kitchen, I think you should go talk to him." He advised her softly.

Lisbon nodded, a little surprise to hear her brother had arrived out of the blue but didn't question Jane any further on the matter. Walking into the large open planned kitchen she found her youngest sibling sat at the breakfast bar staring aimlessly out the window holding a half drunken bottle of beer in his hands. "Okay, so what you done now!" Lisbon greeted with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Jimmy remained staring forward, his voice low and sombre when he answered. "Nothing." He shrugged. "just wanted to come visit you."

Lisbon sighed knowing her little brother never just showed up without a reason. "Okay, then how much do you need?" Lisbon added. Whilst a professional gambler wasn't a career choice she would have choose for her brother, it was the path he had made in life. In fact, it had been her who had taught him how to play poker as a kid so she had played her part.

Sighing heavily to his sister's immediate suspicions, Jimmy responded. "I don't need any money, Reece." He took long sip on his beer. Finally seeing up there was something seriously wrong Lisbon stopped her teasing. "Jimmy? You okay?"

She moved across the kitchen touching him lightly on the arm which in turn made Jimmy look up at her. She could see there was real sadness in his eyes. They were heavily bloodshot which made her wondered if he had even been crying at some point. "You okay?" she asked again out of worry and concern.

"Lucy dumped me." Jimmy told her sadly. "She said "I am a teenage boy trapped in a man's body." Jimmy took another large gulp of his beer trying to tamper down his emotions. "She's been going on about us moving in together but I don't' see why we have to change anything? Why are we rushing things? Things are great between us the way we are." he continued. "I mean, she stays over at mine but she's pressuring me, she's moving us too quickly." He added deflated by the end of his rant.

Lisbon took the seat next to her brother. She was no expert when it came to relationships and matters of the heart but she could definitely understand her brothers fears of a fast moving relationships.

"Well, some people sometimes get carried away in a new relationship, it happens." Lisbon replied understanding. Her and Pike and their move to Washington was a prime example of that. "Trust me" she mumbled. She hadn't even been aware her brother was in a new relationship, he hadn't mentioned it the last time he had visited them un-expectantly. "How long have you guys been together?" Lisbon asked sympathising with her brother's relationship dilemma.

"Three years." He shrugged casually.

"THREE YEARS?" Lisbon choked on her words splattering the water she had been sipping on all down her shirt. "Jimmy! Is this the same Lucy that came to our wedding?" she questioned remembering the very excitable hyperactive young woman who Jimmy had brought to their wedding over nearly two years ago.

"Yeah, why?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Seriously Jimmy, three years? and you think things are moving fast between you?" Seeing he was quickly losing his big sister's sympathy on the matter, Jimmy directed it back on to her. "You hardly one to talk, it took you and lover boy in there nearly twelve years to go a first date."

"That… that… was totally different." She snipped not wanting to discuss her and Jane past complex relationship. "Jimmy, if you don't want to be in a committed relationship then why are you still with Lucy after all this time?"

"Because despite what everyone thinks … I do actually… you know… care for her." Jimmy quickly downed the rest of his beer as though he would burst into flames for admitting that romantic sentiment out loud in public. Romance and expressing feelings wasn't a big Lisbon family forte unfortunately.

"I know she can get over excitable and she can be a little ditsy but that's what I like about her. She is one of the sweetest people. She loves kids. She as kinder garden assistant, just qualified to level four." He told his sister proudly.

"That explains a lot." Lisbon muttered under her breathe as she continued to brush the drips of her water off her shirt. Lucy had been very sweet girl but very, very, excitable. She had reminded Lisbon of a hyperactive child so to discover she worked in the professional made perfect sense.

"She's the only woman I have ever wanted to stick around this long." Jimmy voiced in surprise as he realised that for the first time. Staying with a woman for more than three months for James Lisbon was a miracle so being with Lucy for nearly three years was quite an achievement for him.

"Look, I know it's scary to commit to another person but what is really going to change if you make it more official and she moves in with you. You said yourself she stays over all the time anyway." Jimmy nodded seeing his sister's point. It didn't seem so scary when she put it that way.

"Give her a few days to calm down and then talk to her. Explain how your feeling. I am sure you two can work it all out if you are just honest with her, Jimmy." Lisbon advised kindly.

"Thanks sis." Jimmy smiled grateful but was still feeling down by his broken heart. "I am going to go out for walk before dinner, clear my head." He added.

"Okay." Lisbon watched as Jimmy pushed himself upright from the kitchen bar. Wasn't often Jimmy Lisbon let things get him down, he was always the player, the joker, the fun carefree fun guy despite his sad past so it made her heart swell with love and protectiveness to see him so low and sad. As he opened the back door of the cabin Jimmy turned back to Lisbon. "Would it be okay if I stay here for a while."

Lisbon eyed her brother suspiciously knowing he wouldn't just be staying over a broken heart. Seeing it was pointless to lie to his suspicious detective sister he confessed the truth. "Okay, fine, I owe this guy some money and he is pretty pissed at me right now. There is a big poker tournament happening down here in Texas, I just need a few weeks to win some big money back, then I will head back home to Oklahoma. I swear."

Lisbon smirked, happy to know that she could still tell when her brother was lying just as she did all those years ago when bringing him up. "Sure. You can stay for as long as you need."

"Thanks Sis." Jimmy eyes lit up before glancing down to her baby bump. "Wow, you really are having a baby." Last time he had been too Austin she hadn't even been showing but within only a few months she had really grown in size.

"Nothing gets past you." Lisbon retorted sarcastically as she opened the oven to see what Jane had prepared for them for dinner.

"Its suits you."

"The whale look?" She chuckled not taking Jimmy compliment seriously.

"You look great sis, seriously, pregnancy suits you." Once Jimmy left the cabin she gently rubbed her hand over her bump catching her reflection in the oven door. She smiled sweetly seeing a side profile of herself. It was a sight she never thought she see herself be in to be honest. In fact, her baby bump was nicely rounded now she was past that horrible "Is that woman over weight? or just pregnant phase?

It was then that Jane entered the kitchen as Jimmy headed out the back door. "Is he okay?" Jane asked having over heard some of their conversation from the living area.

"No, don't think he is?" Lisbon leaned in to her husband needing a comforting hug. "He's really heartbroken. Lucy ended things between them," she explained.

"And him being upset by that surprises you?"

"Yes. To be honest. This is Jimmy. My little brother." Lisbon said. "He normally only cares for himself most of the time." Lisbon and Jane watched out the window as her brother slowly wandered around the lake taking some time to think.

"I mean, this is the boy who dumped Selina Cook two days before the high school prom and then turned up with her best friend instead. Sensitivity and tact with the opposite sex has never been his forte." Both Lisbon and Jane chuckled at his childhood tale before turning the subject back to serious matters.

"He is really upset by Lucy ending things between them. I think…," Lisbon paused. "I think he's in love for the first time in his life. I've never seen him like this before." She added.

Jane pulled the oven door open checking on his home made meat loaf focused on making sure his wife ate something. "well, I will admit a broken heart will do strange things to a man." Jane shared pulling the oven gloves of his hand. Lisbon turned from watching her brother chuckling at Janes pearls of wisdom. "And how would you know?" She questioned knowing he had first married his childhood sweetheart and then her. No being dumped ever involved.

Jane raised an eyebrow at his wife before answering. "Well, for a start, I was dumped for a certain tall dark FBI AGENT named Pike." He told her popping a grape into his mouth from the fruit bowl. Lisbon brow frowned trying to take in what he had just said.

"I didn't dump you for Pike!" she exclaimed. "We weren't even together back then. How could I have dumped you for Pike?"

"Well, no, maybe we weren't technically a couple back then but if you hadn't been so quick to move on and given me a chance to find my feet back on US soil, we would have been, eventually." He said confidently, as though he had the whole thing planned on his return from South America.

Lisbon mouth dropped open stunned by his view on things. "So, you're saying us not being together when you returned is my fault?" Lisbon folded her arms defensively as Jane pottered around the kitchen seemingly unaware of her growing frustration on the matter.

"Well, I wouldn't lay all the blame at your door… but patience is a virtue, my love." He leaned over pecking her cheek grinning mischievously when she wasn't looking knowing his words would get her all heated up.

"PATIENCE? Are you kidding me? I waited nearly decade for you. You jerk." Lisbon threw a grape at his head. Jane eventually beamed a teasing smile and she realised he was playing. Jane pulled her into him but she moodily pushed his hug away. "No. Go away." She told him trying to hide her amusement as he softly nuzzled into her neck.

"So how was your day?" Jane asked still trying to kiss his struggling wife in his arms. He and Cho had driven up to Dallas to interview a suspect so he hadn't had a chance to see or speak to his wife since they arrive at work that morning.

"Okay. Hate being stuck on desk duty, pretty much paperwork all day," Lisbon told him grumpily. "Me and Wylie were researching that insurance broker." Lisbon stopped flicking through the letters on the side as she started recalling her day.

"What?" Jane questioned watching his wife with intrigue as he could see the wheels in her mind begin turning.

"Ah it's nothing. Just… Wylie was acting a bit strange today."

"Nothing new then," Jane quipped

"No, he was acting stranger than normal." She told him with concern in voice. She was slightly worried the young lad maybe falling ill again. "He was humming and whistling and just overly too cheerful. It was irritating to be honest especially as we were just spent hours and hours of trailing through boring financial and phone records for most of the afternoon. When I questioned him he just gave me a goofy grin and said he had woken up on the right side of bed."

Jane's knowing smile grew knowing exactly what, or should he say who, had put a big smile on young Wylie's face. "I bet he did." Jane mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud" Jane answered. He had instantly notice the change in the two young IT agents over the past few weeks since Lily's had returned to work. All the goofy loved up smiles, sly glances across the bullpen, Wylie referring to her as Lily now not Pullman and the fact Wylie had turned up to a case briefing a few days previous with smudge of pale pink lip gloss on his shirt collar. The very same lip gloss Pullman had been wearing so it wasn't hard to figure out that the two had crossed the line to something much more than friends and colleagues. Jane decided to keep that knowledge to himself for now though. You never know when he might need blackmail information or bribery with your fellow colleagues at the FBI.

"Why don't you go sit down put your feet up." Jane slowly directed Lisbon towards the kitchen exit taking the unopened envelopes from her hands. "Dinner will be ready soon and you look tired. You need to rest." He told her. No longer pondering her young team mate's behaviour and acknowledging she was feeling very exhausted she entered the living area. "Okay, you're right, I do feel a bit tired." She smile sweetly at him for taking care of her so well, leaving Jane to finish up with dinner.

* * *

"More meat Loaf." Lisbon offered to her depressed brother as the three of them finished their meal at the dining table.

"Huh?" Jimmy looked up from pushing his food around his plate. "Oh, no thanks. I am not really hungry."

"Well, starving yourself is going to win Lucy back, is it?" Lisbon teased lightly when she watched her brother push his plate away and slump back in his chair.

Jimmy rolled his eyes skywards not wanting his sister mothering him. "I think I will go catch up with some old poker buddies." He told them. "Thanks for dinner Patrick. It was lovely. I will catch you guys later," Jimmy quickly grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair making his way out the front door of the cabin before his big protective sister could stop him.

After clearing the dinner things away, Jane and Lisbon finally settled down on the couch together ready for a quiet night in. Jane had made himself extremely comfy, nestling his head in Lisbon's lap with a pregnancy book in his hand whilst she caught up on episodes of her favourite TV show.

"Well, that's interesting," Jane stated making Lisbon exhale out heavily. He had kept talking during her favorite TV program and it was now starting to drive her nuts.

"Did you know that whilst pregnant, a woman's uterus, feet and heart all grow in size." He explained seemingly unaware of his wife's growing irritation. He had spent the last twenty-two minutes telling her random facts about pregnancy and giving birth, none particularly helpful Lisbon noted.

Lisbon glared down at him, turning up the volume of the TV up some more hoping Jane would get the hint and finally shut up. "Also, nipple stimulation is the only scientific evidence of bringing on labour in a woman full term. Who knew!" he said surprised.

"Jane, do you mind, I am trying to watch this," In hearing her snippy tone, he propped himself on one elbow turning up to look his disgruntled wife. She remained fully focused on the TV trying to ignore her husband intense gaze. When she refused to look his way he reached over for the remote control switching the TV completely off and making Lisbon finally turn her head.

"Hey! I was watching that!" she exclaimed.

"I am sure some crazy cop and his attractive partner who constantly flirt with each other all episode can wait. We need to talk." He said sitting upright placing the book down on the coffee table.

"About what?"

"This!" Jane smacked the cover of the pregnancy book.

"A book?"

"No. It's a pregnancy book you haven't look at once. In fact, you haven't looked at any of them." Jane replied firmly. "Why?" Lisbon shifted uncomfortably in her spot as her husband had call her on her dismissive behaviour. "I've been busy, and I am not a big reader." She told him unconvincingly. Jane raised an eyebrow not buying that ridiculous tale. If the pregnancy books were an old FBI case file she would have read the damn thing three times over and twice backwards.

"This is important, we are having a baby Teresa, you need to be prepared." He told her softly.

"I know I am having a baby jane," she snapped. "There's no getting away from it." Lisbon pointed down to her rounding stomach. Jane smiled lovingly at his wife. "you do need to know what to expect, to help you understand what is happening and what's going to happen."

"But I don't need to read any of these books," Lisbon pick the book up twisting it in her hands. "I have you to do it for me." she added smiling sweetly hoping that would ease his worries. She had noticed Jane's was becoming increasingly pregnancy obsessive as time passed but she just put that down to his over excitement. "Besides, why are you obsessed with reading these god damn books, you have already been through this once before." Suddenly realising what she had said and instantly feeling guilty for it she reached out to him. It was then Jane expression changed and Lisbon words lingered between them. She saw the guilt quickly fill his eyes. "Jane?" she gently pushed.

Jane sighed. "But I haven't been through this before," he told her honestly looking down at his lap in shame. "When Angie was pregnant my psychic career was just taking off, so I wasn't around all that much." He added his voice breaking as he spoke of one of his biggest regrets of his past life.

Lisbon remained quiet. Whilst they had spoken a lot about his first marriage, she had never asked the burning question. Deciding that this may be the time to confront it, Lisbon spoke, softening her voice. "Patrick, did you and Angie have a happy marriage?"

Jane quickly lifted his head staring up at her emerald green eyes keenly watching him. "If you asking if I ever cheated on Angela, then no I didn't," he told her with a sharp edge to his tone. Softening he continued "We were happy in the beginning. Towards the end not so much." He added regrettably. Lisbon nodded remembering reading the reports in the early days of the Red john case, she could remember that the files had stated the Janes marriage was not an entirely happy one. Arguments mainly over his career and money.

"I prefer to mingle with the rich and famous, sipping champagne, having women throwing themselves at me and boosting my ego whilst I made a fortune from doing it towards the end." Jane said his eyes focused on the coffee table in front of him. "I was consumed by making money and providing us with a good life back then. I wanted to make something of myself, along with a seven figure bank account." Jane exhaled, tears filling his eyes. Lisbon slowly linked her hands with his to give him comfort.

"I was arrogant and selfish and very money orientated back then. Going to some fancy rich person garden party was much more appealing than being sat at home with my wife," Jane turned to look at his new pregnant wife, "now, it's all I want to do," he ended sentimentally meaning every word.

Lisbon smiled sweetly realising that this pregnancy was just as new to Jane as it was for her and understanding his obsession with the books a little more. Deciding to redirect the conversation back to the here and now Lisbon spoke again. "Well, I am only six months. I have plenty of time on the joys of giving birth to a baby Jane. It does takes nine months to get here."

Jane sighed, "You're nearly seven months gone, Teresa" he corrected "and it can take some women ten months to have a baby if they go full term." proving his point entirely about her current dismissive behaviour and lack of knowledge.

"I am?... It does?" Lisbon's brow frowned totally unaware of how the weeks had slipped by so quick. Was she really coming up for seven months already?

"Just promise you will have a read through. For me." Jane pleaded taking her hand and kissing her palm hoping using the softly approach would work. Seeing he was really concerned and little thrown herself to find out she had lost count of her pregnancy, Lisbon agreed to read the books. She would secretly admit the further her pregnancy went by the more scared she became of what was going to happen. Her natural instinct when in fear was to carry on as though it wasn't happening.

"Okay I promise to read the books." She told him making a silent promise to herself to start facing the inevitable. She was going to have a baby after all. No going back now. Jane smiled relieved to see he had gotten through to her. He knew deep down she was worried and scared but he also knew her fears about the baby were unwarranted. She was strong and would get through the labour fine. She going to make a great mother and he would be with her all the way to help her do it. He wouldn't ever make the same mistake twice.

"Great," Jane replied smiling widely, "and I thought we could start on decorating the nursery this weekend too?" he added, pushing his luck but hoping it would pay off now she was more willing to co-operate.

"I've already started," Lisbon said proudly quickly moving to the side table and producing some beige and brown teddy bear patterned curtains from a bag. "I saw this yesterday and I thought they were perfect neutral colours, you know, for either a boy or a girl."

They had made the decision to wait until the birth to find out what they were having so to have the surprise together. Jane smile grew extremely happy to see his wife hadn't totally dismissed the fact she was pregnant and her maternal nesting instinct was already starting, even if she was trying to fight it.

* * *

 *****M SCENE*****

Jane eyes slowly fluttered opened. The darkest of the bedroom coming in to focus as a warm sensation spread up his body waking him up from his slumber. His brain eventually kicked in realising the warmth was that of his wife gently running her fingers over his groin. "Hmm, what's the time?" he croaked turning to look at the bedside clock.

"Just gone 2am," she whispered shifting herself up closer against his side.

"Everything okay? He asked worried something was wrong the baby. It wasn't like Lisbon to wake during the night unless the phone had rung for a new case or she needed a toilet break.

"No its's fine." With that she slowly slid her hand under the waist band of his navy blue silky pyjamas bottoms taking firm hold of his flaccid shaft. She softly placed a kiss to his bare chest as she began slowly arousing him.

"Someone feeling horny, are we?" he asked amused placing one of his arms behind his head giving his wife full access to his body and feeling himself slowly hardening in her palm with every stroke.

Lisbon paused between placing kisses to his chest. "You complaining?"

"No ma'am." Jane gently stroked her soft chestnut hair as she continued applying kisses to his chest. "That feels good." He mumbled as he felt himself now fully erect in her hand. He whimpered when she stopped her strokes to sit upright, losing contact with his body. Lisbon quickly whipped her football jersey over her head, exposing her naked body in the moonlight. Slowly straddling him, she positioned his now fully erect shaft carefully at her core before lowering herself slowly down upon him with ease.

"If I had known you would be like this I would have made sure I got you pregnant a lot sooner." Jane remarked teasingly as she began moving her hips. Jane closed his eyes fully enjoying the feel of his wife riding him but not quite at the speechless stage of sex yet.

"Your sexual appetite this last few days has been relentless woman," he added playfully realising they had had sex at least once every night that week so far.

Lisbon stilled her rocking. "I just want to make love to my husband is that so wrong." She snapped, now embarrassed by the fact Jane had picked up on her increased sexual appetite. Sensing that she was embarrassed by his remark he stopped his teasing. "You don't have to be embarrassed Teresa, I have wanted you from the first day I met you." Sitting up to meet her body he wrapped his arms around her. Her rounded stomach created a small distant between them but he pulled her in close.

"You have?" She was surprised by his confession, having believe that he was too broken and consumed by grief to have notice her in any sort of sexual way all those years ago when they first met at the CBI office.

"Of course! You were, and still are a very beautiful woman," he pecked her lightly on the lips before placing kisses to her jawline. "Especially like this." Jane seductively grinned as he moved his mouth downwards licking one of her sensitive nipples, gently sucking and letting her know how much he loved her in her current condition. Allowing him to pay attention to her breasts for a few minutes she eventually needed to find her release and pushed her hands lightly against his chest guiding him to lay back down flat on the bed.

Once he was flat on his back she began rocking her hips back and forth again, shutting her eyes as the feel of him inside of her gave her immense pleasure. Jane gripped her hips as she set a firm steady rhythm. Her quiet moans and his very heaving breathing filling the dark bedroom. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, her entire naked pregnant body covered in a silvery glow from the moon streaming through the open window.

After several minutes enjoying the view, Jane sat upright, his hands running up and down the contours of her back whilst his mouth came back down on one of her breasts. Taking one of her large swollen nipples roughly between his teeth, Lisbon released a hiss as he gave her pain and pleasure simultaneously. He swirled his tongue soothing the sensitive bud making her gasp and moan louder with pleasure.

Jane had been correct. She did have an increase sexual appetite in the last few days and she wasn't even sure why? She didn't feel very sexy or attractive in her current condition. She had had a constant back ache for the past two days, her breasts felt sore to the touch and her stomach had grown bigger making her movement even less restricted than she had been before. All this making her feel like a tired lumbering elephant despite everyone telling her how wonderful she looked. It definitely didn't feel or look that way for her.

It soon became quite clear to Jane this wasn't about making love this was about getting Lisbon off. He allowed her to set a faster pace, letting her do whatever she needed too whilst he kept his attention on her breasts. Both of her hands swept her long wavy hair up off her shoulders up onto her head as their night time passion made her sweat.

With both her arms raised it made her breasts lift allowing Jane full and easy access to continue to working his magic with his tongue. She arched her back, her long drawn out moans of pleasure telling him he was definitely hitting the spot from both above and below. Quickly her orgasm hit her and she cried out before slumping forward, clinging on to his body as they slowed the pace.

"Have I scratched that itch or do you need more?" he asked brushing her damp hair off her face. He placed soft kisses to her jawline waiting for her to catch her breath. He hadn't found his own release so was still rock hard but this wasn't about him, this was about Lisbon and that's all he cared about.

Lisbon chuckled. "No, you've definitely scratch my itch" she panted feeling fully satisfied. "I love you." She added in a whisper.

 *** M ***

Jane beamed a tearful smile feeling like his heart was about to explore. This was the first time she had initiated those three words first since they had reconciled their marriage and it felt as good as the first time she had ever told him, "I love you too." He told her.

Suddenly there was a loud cluttering from somewhere inside of the other side of the cabin. She immediately jumped up, her adrenaline making her alert. Pulling her night dress over her head and grabbing her gun from the bedside draw not giving a second thought her own safety, she ran fleeing from the bedroom her gun in hand.

"Teresa! Wait," Jane called out, horrified she was running into danger in her current condition. Grabbing his pyjamas pants off the floor he also ran from the room stumbling as he tried to put his clothes on whilst still semi-erect.

As he entered the hall of the cabin he saw his wife poised by the kitchen door with her gun pointed and loaded. More cluttering noise came from inside the kitchen and as Jane went to speak she held a finger up to her lips letting him know to stay quiet. He had remembered exactly who was creeping around their house at two am but pregnancy and post sex brain had made it slipped Lisbon's.

The sound of woman's drunken giggles made Lisbon lower her gun ever so slightly as she stepped into her kitchen to investigate. Lisbon flinched when see caught the sight of her brother and some woman getting frisky on her kitchen worktop. Lowering her gun entirely Lisbon addressed the drunken pair "James Michael Lisbon!" she spat full naming him out of anger. "For the love of god I could have shot you."

Angrily switching on the kitchen light blinding both her intruders Jimmy quickly flustered with the front of the woman's skimpy dress attempting to pull it back into place. "Reece! Hey sis!" he slurred trying to sound casual as though nothing was going on between them. "What you doing up at this time?" he added checking his wrist for a watch he wasn't even wearing.

Lisbon eyed the busty blonde sat half-dressed on her newly granite kitchen top then focused her attention back on her drunken brother waiting for an explanation.

"This is candy, she's a…a.., she's a stripper" Jimmy said awkwardly as his sister eyeballed him disapprovingly.

"Erotic pole dancer." The busty blonde corrected him as though that would help it sound better.

"Really Jimmy? Could you be anymore cliché?" Came Lisbon's less than impressed reply. Placing her loaded Glock down on the side, Lisbon glared at Jimmy who had found drunken solace in the arms of a cheap stripper. Earlier when her and brother had a heart to heart, Jimmy had given her the impression he wanted to sort things out with girlfriend but with seeing him with the fake busty blonde with her boobs hanging out this clearly wasn't the case any longer.

Jane had finally made his way into the brightly lit kitchen also a little surprised to see some strange woman in his home at 2am. Lisbon spotted that the busty blonde eyes focused on her husband, liking what she saw. A dishevelled, sweaty, messy haired and half naked Jane. Lisbon shot the younger woman angry daggers before turning back to Jane to explain.

"This is Candy, she's an 'erotic dancer' apparently." Lisbon remarked sarcastically folding her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, we met this evening," Jimmy shifted on his feet embarrassed having admitted to being at strip club to drown his sorrows in. "I told her about this place, and the beautiful lake, so we just popped back to show her." Jimmy smiled over at his sister with puppy dog eyes suddenly wishing he had just got a cheap hotel room for the night instead of trying to sneak Candy back to his sister's for a quick leg over. Not the smartest of ideas.

The busty blonde, who seemed totally unfazed by the uncomfortable situation or the fact that her bra was on full show, loudly clicked her bubble gum smiling falsely at the grumpy pregnant lady and her very attractive half-naked husband.

"What about Lucy? I thought you were going to wait a few days and sort things out." Lisbon asked ignoring the other woman trying to get her brother to see the error of his ways.

Jimmy lips thinned. "Yeah, well I called her but we ended having another big fight and she told me to go do one." Jimmy spat showing his pride and ego was hurt at Lucy's words. "So… I am." He added smirking raising his eye brows back in the direction of the young busty woman behind him.

Jane couldn't help but grin but Lisbon shot him a disapproving glare too, not at all impressed by her brother's reasons for being with this other woman. Seeing his sister wasn't happy Jimmy pulled his cell phone out his jeans pocket. "Best get Candi a taxi home." he said knowing it was time to get rid of the woman before his sister shot him. Or at worse, Candi.

"Uh, hello? What about showing me a night to remember." Candi stated bitterly before dropping off the kitchen worktop pulling the straps of her skimpy dress back up on her shoulders.

"Yeah well, things have changed," Jimmy replied as he quickly ushered the drunken stripper out of the kitchen ignoring the daggers he was receiving from his pissed off sister.

"Unbelievable." Lisbon spat as they made their way back to the bedroom. "My brother is an idiot." she stated as she placed her Glock back in her bedside draw and climbed back into bed.

"Well no harm done." Jane commented mirroring her actions alongside her and pulling her in for a cuddle. With Jimmy and half naked unexpected house guest interrupting their own sex he hoped to try get some of that after snuggled time back.

"You know he would have slept with that woman! If we hadn't interrupted them." She exclaimed as Jane spooned her, softly placing kisses to her neck trying to calm her. "All because his relationship has hit a road bump. Unbelievable" Lisbon continued disgusted at her brother's drunken actions.

"Well he is a big boy, Teresa, just leave him to sort it out." Whilst he loved Lisbon protectiveness over her family, she didn't have to worry about her brothers anymore. They were all grown up and ugly enough to look after their own lives.

"And what about poor Lucy? Huh?" Lisbon spun back looking at Jane feeling outrage for poor Lucy. Jane knew he was entering dangerous ground. A hormonal tired pregnant Lisbon was definitely something to be wary of.

"Well, they are currently split up, so technically…." But before Jane could finish she cut in. "Oh, so jumping in to bed with some slapper is ok. Is it?" Lisbon was shocked to hear Jane had her brother back on this matter wondering if this was a universal male thing.

Jane sighed rolling his eyes. "No, I didn't say that, but Jimmy didn't sleep with her, did he? and I am sure once he is sober in the morning he will be very grateful that he didn't." Lisbon eye's softened knowing Jane was right. She was being a tad over sensitive to the events of the evening. Her pregnancy hormones and mood swings having been in full flow the last few days.

"Come on its late and you need your sleep. Your brother can take care of his own mess of a love life." Jane pushed her to lay back down on the bed.

"Not so sure about that." She mumbled. Snuggling down in her husband arms. She suddenly remembered that with all the commotion Jane hadn't yet found his release, she looked up at Jane horrified she had got so caught up in the moment. "Oh my god. With Jimmy scaring us, what about-…"

"I am fine." He told her having lost his erection along a time ago. "Now lay down. You need your sleep"

Lisbon seductively smiled back at her husband. "Well, there is one sure fire quick way we can sort you out." She replied with a mischievous glint in her eye. Before Jane could respond Lisbon slowly disappeared underneath the white linen bedsheet. He has always prided himself on being able to use biofeedback skills in any given situation, except, he had discovered since being in a sexual relationship with Lisbon.

After a few minutes his hands tightly gripped the bed sheets beneath him knowing he wasn't too far away from being pushed over the edge from their earlier love making. His eyes tightly shut and his mind went blank as Lisbon made quick work of making him cum using just her mouth. Making him groan out loud into the darkened bedroom when his release did arrive.

Lisbon slowly reappeared from under the sheet crawling her way back up the bed with a very smug look on her face. Jane eyes met hers and he rolled them skywards at having proved her point. Unfortunately, he was always going be putty in her hands, or her mouth, as it was. It was his Achilles heel when it came to her and the bedroom department which she took great pleasure in using on him from time to time.

Once Lisbon was settled back in bed he pulled the sheet up over her bump as she smiled lovingly at him. Leaning down he softly kissed her lips letting her know that her and the baby's happiness was all that mattered for now. Jane placed his hand lightly on top of her stomach feeling the baby was moving and kicking about. The minute Lisbon's head hit the pillow she quickly fell off to sleep. Her unusual overactive sexual appetite and adrenaline rush from finding Jimmy and company completely exhausting her. Jane kept his hand on her bump, watching and feeling the baby moving. Eventually his soothing rubs across her belly seem to settle the baby back down.

In less than three months their new arrival would finally be here. He would be father once again and he couldn't wait. Whilst he knew deep down Lisbon had always wanted to a mother the idea of it petrified her. Taking down a badass violent six foot five-inch criminal never scared the small woman but having a 7lb little baby to care for did.

Once the baby was finally here Jane knew her natural mother instinct would kick in and any scary feelings and fears wouldn't matter anymore as she would have other and bigger things to focus on. He knew her overwhelming love for her child would overshadow any of the little fears she was feeling right now.


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you for the messages and reviews on my last chapter. I am really sorry I am not updating as regularly as I would hope too but I am trying to make each chapter longer to make up for that. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist sadly.**

* * *

Lisbon tugged at the heavy archive file, pulling it down from the high shelving rack in front of her. The weight of the case file made her stumble back as it fell into her arms. Cho had ordered her and Pullman to go to the secure FBI archive unit across town and fretrive some files from an older case that they now believed was possibly connected to the Harrison murder.

"Here, let me take that for you." Lily quickly grabbed the heavy item out of Lisbon's arms. Lisbon smiled half-heartedly at the woman feeling like she was becoming a burden to others, unable to do anything in her current condition these days. The two agents moved to the observation table, piling up the collected files they needed. "You shouldn't be lugging heavy objects in your condition," Lily told her concerned.

"It's only a few files, Lily." Pullman eyed Lisbon disapprovingly seeing the pregnant woman was still pushing herself too much.

"So, Jane said you have got your brother staying with you. That must be nice," Pullman commented, making small talk between them as they continued to search the files.

"Hmmmm, not sure nice is a word I would use," Lisbon mumbled under her breath. Whilst having her brother Jimmy back in her life was great, his recent moody drunken behaviour was starting to wear very thin and he had only been staying a few days. Thankfully, there hadn't been any more drunken half naked strippers brought home to the cabin. Jimmy had mainly moped, sleeping off hangovers, before heading off late at night to play poker or to a bar, always returning home intoxicated and passing out on the couch.

"Lisbon, can I ask you something?" Pullman asked, changing the conversation.

"Sure." Lisbon leaned over the gathered case files cataloguing the archive numbers, assuming the younger agent would want to discuss the new Harrison case.

"How do you know when you're in love?"

It had been four weeks since Lily and Wylie gone on their first date and they had been growing closer ever since. She couldn't believe how giddy and happy she felt. Thankfully it seemed the feeling was mutual, but never having been in a real relationship before, she wasn't sure if it was it just over excitement for them both.

Lisbon did a double take at the younger agent, who was now staring all gooey eyed into the space. Lisbon guessed this question was because Pullman had found herself a new man. She had noticed how Lily had been dressing more feminine of late and doing her hair and make-up slightly differently. Lisbon frowned, not sure she was the best person to answer that question. She, herself, hadn't really known her own feelings on love until it smacked her harshly in the face.

"Uh, well, it depends on the situation," Lisbon said dismissively, not overly comfortable with discussing personal matters within the team. Having been the boss for fourteen years she was trained to keep a professional distance when dealing with personal lives. She returned to filling in the forms hoping that was the end of the matter.

"Yeah, I guess, but, how did you know when you fell in love with Jane? What made you realise it was love?" Pullman pushed, not taking the hint that Lisbon didn't want to engage in girl talk. Lisbon puffed her cheeks, suddenly feeling a little hot under the collar. She put it down to her pregnancy and being stuck in a humid storage unit on a very sticky hot summer afternoon.

"Well… I don't really remember," Lisbon answered unconvincingly, hoping that would quell the young woman's intrigue on the matter. She knew exactly the moment she had fallen in love with Jane or at least the exact moment she realised she was in love in with her consultant. It had been the time he had walked out of CBI building disappearing for six months with no contact.

"Oh, come on, Lisbon, you must do." Pullman probed more, wanting to know romantic tales from her colleague. She had heard the rumours of Jane's romantic dash to the airport in Miami before she joined the team but she guessed that their romantic relationship went back much further than that. They had worked together for nearly a decade before the FBI.

Lisbon sighed, realising when Lily Pullman got the bit between her teeth she wasn't about to let it go. "Fine," she sighed. "I think it may have been when Jane left the CBI and disappeared for six months to Vegas," she confessed honestly.

"Oh." Pullman's heart went out to the woman, knowing that not seeing Wylie for four days whilst he and Cho had flown up to Oregon the week before had been a struggle, let alone six months. "That must have been hard."

"It was at the time," Lisbon answered sadly, "but he came back." A small smile graced Lisbon's lips as she remembered the memory of Jane popping up in the church and scaring the life out of her. Pullman watched as Lisbon went all glassy eyed remembering her memory. That was the kind of love she wanted - to have that same feeling and look when she thought of the man in her life. "Aww, was it a romantic?" Lily added, totally unaware of the past events of that difficult time in their lives.

"What?"

"When Jane finally returned from Vegas. Was it romantic?"

"Well," Lisbon's warm smile quickly disappeared as tougher memories flooded here mind. "If you class Jane becoming an obsessive jackass fixated on finding a murdering mistress of a serial killer, and sleeping with her in a ruse to catch the killer of his family, then, yeah, it was a right love fest," Lisbon replied more coldly than intended letting those memories affect her mood.

Pulling the heavy case files off the table Lisbon quickly marched out of the warm storage unit, leaving a stunned Pullman alone with her parting words. Pullman copied her colleague's actions grabbing the remaining files up and quickly following. "Well, at least it worked out alright in the end," Pullman called out, realising her nosiness had clearly hit a nerve with the pregnant woman.

* * *

"Hey, it's my favourite FBI agent," Jane greeted, opening one eye at hearing Lisbon's footsteps approach his couch. "How was the FBI storage units?" he added sleepily.

"Hot!"

Lisbon dropped the heavy files down on to her desk making a loud echo across the bullpen. Jane instantly rose up on his elbows, watching his wife seeing her disgruntled expression. "What's wrong?" Jane quickly moved off his couch and made his way to stand by her. He placed one hand on her back in comfort, seeing she was upset.

"It's nothing, I just need a drink." She shrugged herself out of Jane's touch. He knew something had happened since going to the archive unit as she had been fine when she left. He had seen that look she wore a few times over the years, normally when he had messed up somehow. Watching as Lisbon entered the break room Jane swiftly made his way across the bullpen towards Pullman's desk. He saw the young agent quickly duck her head downwards pretending to be reading. "Everything okay down at the unit?" Jane asked with real seriousness in his voice.

"Uh, yeah, of course, Sir."

At seeing the outright lie written on Lily's face Jane raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Lily?" he probed, drawing out her name and urging her to confess. Lily swallowed nervously under the consultant's intense gaze. "I think I may have upset her. I didn't mean to pry, I swear," she replied guiltily. Jane sighed knowing there could a be a range of topics that could have upset Lisbon right now, her mood swings being ruled by her current condition more than to what Pullman had actually said or done.

"It's okay," Jane told her softly seeing Lily was really worried she had upset Lisbon. "She's not quite herself at the moment. Hormones," he explained, giving the young woman a reassuring wink, knowing that any one of them could say the wrong thing at this moment in time.

"Oh right, got it." Lily immediately perked up, understanding Lisbon's moods a little better. "My sister was terrible during her pregnancies. Mood swings, angry outbursts and then bursting into tears over the silliest of things," Lily added. "She cried once because her husband brought the wrong pasta sauce. I mean, it was only pasta sauce!"

Jane chuckled. "Well, we're not quite at the stage of crying over pasta sauce but just be aware from now on and go easy with her. She will be back to her Lisbon self before we know it."

"Yes sir… I mean, Jane."

Jane entered the break room to find Lisbon leaning against the island table sipping on her herbal green tea. Deciding to ignore and skip over her mood he came up pulling her in for a hug. "So I thought we could go grab some lunch," he told her, kissing her cheek lightly. "It's a lovely day, we could have a picnic in the park." Jane moved his lips down to hers pecking her lips and happy to see she wasn't stopping him. Whatever had upset her earlier it wasn't anything too bad and he could see she was already getting over it. "We can enjoy some alone time," he added, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Unfortunately, Lisbon wasn't in the mood for his playfulness. "Private time? In a public park?" she replied rolling her eyes.

"Well, I didn't mean we…"

"It's like 102' degrees outside, Jane, and I have no sunscreen on. Besides, it would take me at least ten minutes to get up off the ground in this condition or a crane," she told him sharply. Jane sighed, hurt by her coldness. Seeing she had taken her bad mood out on him she quickly felt guilty for it. "I'm sorry, just ignore me, I am just tired," she added, softening her tone when she saw the look of hurt on his face.

She knew she was being grumpy due to her over tiredness, trying to sleep in her condition was becoming harder and harder and in the last few days she hadn't been feeling herself. Every little thing seemed to upset her at the moment. She knew it was her pregnancy hormones. She had started reading the pregnancy books Jane had brought and they confirmed her body was going through a massive change and that her hormones would be all over the place. The books had also claimed she may end up tearful for a lot of the time too but thankfully she hadn't experienced any tears. YET. Crying wasn't a thing she did very much so she doubted a few pregnancy hormones would change that.

"I am just tired and I've got all these archives files to go through, so I will probably just end up eating at my desk today," she told Jane, kissing him softly on the lips as a way of an apology for being so snappy. At that same moment Wylie entered the break room. Lisbon stepped out Jane's arms, still a little uncomfortable being romantic in front of her team mates at work, even though they were married. "Hi guys, everything okay?" Wylie asked, unaware that there was an issue.

"Best get back to the grindstone," Lisbon told them. She smiled at Wylie and left the two men alone. Sensing the tension in the room and realising he had possibly interrupted something important, Wylie watched the small pregnant agent leave. "Something I said?"

Jane's eyes followed his wife across the bullpen wishing he could do more for her but knowing they would just have to ride the pregnancy storm for a little while longer. "No. Just a very hot pregnant and tired Lisbon. Nothing for you to worry about," Jane told him warmly.

"Have you eaten lunch?" Wylie said with a hopeful look in his eye. "My shout!" he added, hoping that would seal the deal with the consultant. Jane narrowed his eyes, turning to look at the IT Agent becoming suspicious of Wylie's generous offer. He happily accepted, never one to turn down a free lunch. "Okay, sounds good… but I choose where," Jane informed him grinning widely.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Jane and Wylie were sitting in Jane's favourite Italian restaurant, eating on fine cuisine and sipping on a nice cold beer each. The restaurant was thankfully air conditioned and so they were out of the scorching heat outside. Jane swallowed his mouthful of pasta before taking a long sip of his beer, studying the IT tech from across the table.

"So, why don't you just tell me the real reason you're buying me lunch, Wylie" Jane remarked directly.

"Huh? What?" Wylie tried desperately to sound shocked at Jane calling him out on his real motive for lunch. Seeing Jane eye him over the rim of his beer bottle Wylie finally gave up the pretence. "Okay, yes, you're right, I did invite you for lunch for a reason." Wylie wiped his mouth on the fancy cloth napkin preparing himself. "I need… I need your advice. On a private matter," he whispered so the people on the other table next to them couldn't over hear.

"Okay." Jane nodded that he understood it was a delicate topic.

Wylie glanced around making sure no one from the FBI was nearby or dining in the same location. "You see I've started dating this woman. And I really like her," Wylie told him quietly, trying his best to keep his relationship with Pullman on the down low.

A small grin appeared on Jane's face having known this piece of information already. "Well, that's always a good start," Jane replied, smiling playfully at the younger man.

"But, you see, we have been spending more and more time together lately and things are getting a bit more, you know, serious." Wylie glanced around the busy restaurant again making sure no one was listening to his personal dilemma.

Jane raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to have to teach his young friend and colleague about the bird and bees. "Well, I am assuming this territory isn't something new to you, Jason?" Jane asked awkwardly, sipping on his beer again.

Wylie focused, taking in Jane's words and realising the consultant thought him to be a virgin. "What? Oh no. I was in a relationship at college. With a girl!" he clarified, just in case Jane thought otherwise. Jane grinned, "Okay, so what's the problem?" not quite sure what Wylie needed advice on exactly.

"It's… it's… just that me and this woman are friends," Wylie explained, "and every time I am with her things get more heated between us, but …"

"…you're worried if you cross that line there will be no going back," Jane finished for him, finally getting to the real matter at hand.

"Yeah, exactly, I am worried. What if it all goes wrong? I mean, seeing her every day and having to work with her? It could ruin everything," Wylie slipped out without realising.

"Wylie, you're over thinking this." Jane interrupted. "If you and this 'friend' feel it's time to move to the next level then things will all be okay. I am sure of it," Jane told him reassuringly.

"You think? How did you and Lisbon do it?"

Jane's eyes widened, wondering exactly what the young IT tech was asking him to share. "Excuse me?"

"No, I mean, you and Lisbon were friends and colleagues first, so how did you suddenly go from being colleagues and friends to something so much more."

"Well… wasn't easy but we both just confronted our desire for each other and promising to always be open and honest with one another."

"Right! Honesty." Wylie stared off into the distance pondering Jane's words.

"Just don't over think it, Jason. If the opportunity presents itself and it feels right, just go with the flow. Don't put too much pressure on yourself." Seeing Wylie's expression remained pensive and worried Jane guessed there was something else worrying the poor lad. "What is it, Wylie?"

Wylie glanced around him again lowering his voice to a hushed whisper. "It's just… I… I caught her watching that film! Fifty Shades? What if she wants something more, something I can't give … or even do."

Instantly choking on the beer he was sipping Jane spluttered most of the liquid over the table, not having seen that one coming. "Sorry… I am sorry…" Jane apologised, using his napkin to clean up and trying not to burst out laughing at the poor kid. Having got a grip of himself, Jane continued, "Look, just because Pul… this friend of yours watched a film, doesn't mean she is some sexual fetish fiend, Wylie. And I am sure she isn't expecting any sort of performance… or …aides," Jane told him. "Most women just want normal romantic relations," Jane advised, unable to hide amusement any longer.

"Yeah, normal, you're probably right. Don't over think it." Wylie repeated, happy to have Jane help calm his nerves. "Thanks, Jane. Appreciate your advice."

Jane smiled warmly at his young friend. "You're welcome. Anytime, Wylie."

"I will just go use the little boys room before we head back to the office."

Jane watched as Wylie snaked his way through the busy restaurant over to the restrooms. When out of earshot Jane let out a chuckle, still trying to wipe the drips of beer off his shirt. He empathised with Wylie's fears and worries, he had the same feelings when he and Lisbon had first got together but with the added concern of Wylie becoming the next Mr Gray, well, that was just hilarious. Never a dull moment in the FBI serious crimes team, Jane thought chuckling away to himself.

* * *

Lisbon pulled the black SUV up outside their cabin. Jane was fast asleep in the passenger seat beside her. The team had stayed late working on the new Harrison case. Cho was now back in favour with the powers to be so unfortunately it meant the team was pushed to its full work load with every big high profile case.

"Jane." Lisbon spoke softly, gently shaking her sleepy husband lightly. "Patrick, we are home."

"What time is it?" he croaked, rubbing his eyes open.

"It's just gone eleven."

Jane glanced over at the cabin seeing there were lights on inside and letting him know Jimmy was home. So far, his brother in law had spent every night out drowning his sorrows in a bar somewhere.

"Do you think Jimmy made us dinner?" Jane joked, stepping out of the SUV and stretching, preparing for the mess Jimmy had no doubt left whilst they had been at work all day. Unfortunately, Jimmy Lisbon wasn't the most house proud of people and seem to leave his mess and belonging anywhere he could find but he was family and Jane knew how much it meant to Lisbon to have her family around her again.

"If ordering a pizza is classed as making dinner," Lisbon chuckled in reply, pulling her bag up on her shoulder. Jane stood for a few moments taking in the starry night sky sparkling over the lake. "Have you ever read the book Fifty Shades?" Jane asked his wife with Wylie's amusing predicament still firmly on his mind. Lisbon stilled her walking, doing a double take at Jane's bizarre and unexpected question. "Why would you ask me that?

"Just curious."

"No. No I haven't read it…" Lisbon replied, baffled by his random question before a small knowing smile crept on her face. "But I know someone who has."

Jane paused working out who she was referring to. "Uh, Grace," he answered smugly, knowing Lisbon only had handful of women friends in her life and it wasn't hard to work out who would confide that secret piece of information.

"Yep. Apparently it did wonders for her and Rigsby's sex life." Lisbon winked at Jane as he took her hand in his and they made their way over to the cabin.

"Hmmm, well maybe we should buy a… " Before Jane could finish that thought the sound of glass smashing inside their home caused Jane and Lisbon to freeze in their tracks. "What was that?" Lisbon asked, highly concerned.

"Jimmy!"

They both quickly moved up the steps of the veranda of the cabin. Opening the front door Jane and Lisbon was faced with a very slim angry faced blonde woman currently throwing Jane's pregnancy books across their home at a half-naked Jimmy who was cowering from the flying objects.

"Lucy, baby, let me explain," Jimmy pleaded when the angry blonde had run out of books to throw.

"Was this your plan? Get me to come here and have me catch you with… that… that tramp?!" Lucy screamed, picking up a nearby pen and aiming it straight at Jimmy's head, only missing the target by centimetres. "There I am, back in Oklahoma crying my eyes out because it feels like my life has fallen apart and you are here… with her!" Lucy fumed, throwing another pen before turning on her heels and marching over to the doorway of the cabin to leave.

"She means nothing, I swear," Jimmy called, running across Jane's leather couch in an attempt to stop Lucy from leaving the home. He was very much aware his sister and brother in law had arrived home and was watching the show but he couldn't worry about them right now.

"What are you even doing here?" Jimmy questioned, blocking his girlfriend's exit and hoping he was in some sort of a bad dream and at any minute he was about to wake up.

"You left me a message and asked me to come!" Lucy shouted, hitting him on the chest and making Jimmy stumble backwards into his sister and brother in law. Lisbon pulled her brother back from Lucy's weak attack.

"I did?" Jimmy stood utterly confused by this piece of news. He must have left her the message when he had gotten drunk one night then totally forgot about it. "Okay, look, listen to me. I am only with her because your flatmate Lorraine said you were out having dinner with some guy called Terry," Jimmy said, feeling like he had the higher ground and full justification for his actions. "Jesus, Lucy! You're already off dating some other guy! For fuck's sakes," he spat back angrily.

"Terri… is a work colleague! Who took me out for a dinner to try and cheer me up… And SHE'S a god damn woman! You idiot!" Lucy shouted back.

Jimmy instantly groaned having realised his mistake. "Ohhhh, shit," he grumbled, running his hands down his face, knowing he had totally jumped to the wrong conclusions. He had put two and two together and come up with five. Knowing he needed to quickly try to repair the damage Jimmy got down on his knees in desperation. "Please baby, forgive me, I swear nothing happened, we hardly even got started. You know what I am like, it takes me a while to get going when I've have a few to drink," he told her honestly.

Lucy's mouth gaped open in horror at Jimmy's explanation. Even Jane groaned inwardly, shaking his head at Jimmy's lack of tact, knowing full well that honesty was not the best policy in this particular scenario.

"You insensitive bastard!" Lucy automatically picked up a nearby ceramic bowl and threw it at him. Jimmy quickly scrambled to his feet, avoiding the flying weapon coming at him. "I catch you with that… that whore… and you think I am going to just going forgive you cos you couldn't get it up."

"She's not a whore, she's an erotic pole dancer," Jimmy corrected, just making the whole situation a hundred times worse. It was Lisbon's turn to groan at her brother. "Oh sweet lord," she mumbled, stunned by the man's stupidity.

" **Ahhhhhhhhh**. **I hate you!** " Lucy screamed grabbing the next thing she could find, which happened to be Jane's glued ceramic blue tea cup left on the table from earlier that morning.

"Whoa, whoa, missy. Not my cup!" Jane swiftly moved, grabbing his cup from her hands before it could be smashed that into pieces, again. Immediately, as if on cue, Candi, the blonde busty pole dancer from three nights ago appeared in the entrance to the living area, wearing a see through red lacy bra and matching thong, and, to add insult to injury, Jimmy's favorite blue shirt.

"Uh, excuse me! Who are you calling a whore? I am an exotic pole dancer," the stripper stated, aiming her words towards Lucy, having heard the blazing row from the spare room. The busty blonde placed her hands on hips and glared at the hysterical woman throwing things around the cabin.

"You..." Lucy hissed. "If you put your skanky hands on my man again I swear to god…" With that Lucy attempted to move towards the stripper but Jane was quick to pull her back, foreseeing a violent altercation could kick off between the two angry women.

Candi's eyes narrowed at being insulted. "Who the hell are you calling skanky? Bitch!"

"OKAY ENOUGH!" Lisbon yelled loudly, stopping and shocking everyone in their tracks. "This is my house and enough is enough. Do I make myself clear?" she ordered. "Anymore and I will arrest the lot of you for damage to property and disturbing the peace," Lisbon added convincingly.

They were flimsy charges at best but she made it sound convincing in her best FBI agent tone. She may be pregnant but she was still a FBI agent and would use it to her advantage if she needed to. It was like a scene out of a bad rom com movie, just without any of the sappy fluffy romance, or the comedy.

"You!" Lisbon aimed her words at the half naked stripper. "Get dressed and leave." With a sulky eye roll the busty blonde stropped her way back towards the guest bedroom, grabbing her scattered clothing all over the hall as she went.

"You. Go get dressed. Now," she barked at Jimmy, who was dressed in only his denim jeans and looking like a rabbit caught in the head lights. Jimmy immediately did as he was told for once with no arguments, knowing the shit had hit truly the fan this time.

"And you," Lisbon said to a wriggling Lucy fighting feebly to get out of Jane's tight grip, "go outside and cool down before you smash every ornament in my home."

Lucy finally relented her tugging and nodded that she understood Lisbon's order. Lucy wasn't a violent person in nature but her anger had been pushed to the limit tonight by Jimmy's stupid actions. The heavy tears started to flow as the reality of what she had just witnessed hit her hard. Jane slowly let go of the crying woman who immediately ran from the cabin sobbing, totally devastated.

"I will go take Lucy to a hotel for the night," Lisbon sighed. No way she could have the warring couple under the same roof. She was absolutely livid at her stupid brother for causing all this upset and that she was having to clear his mess up. Again. She pecked Jane on the cheek as she headed out of the cabin. Lisbon paused for a few seconds in the doorway seeing the younger woman stood weeping outside by the dark lake. "You just make sure my idiot brother knows the shit he is in."

As Lisbon exited the cabin she held onto the door frame for some support as a pain in her back intensified all of sudden. All she wanted to do was grab something to eat and have a long hot soak in the bath and go to bed, instead she was now driving her brother's heartbroken girlfriend back into Austin to find a room for the night.

"You okay?" Jane said, quickly moving to her side on seeing her in pain.

"Yeah, I am fine, just back ache from leaning over my desk all day. The joys of pregnancy," she told him grumpily. He reluctantly let Lisbon go and watched as she gently approached a sobbing Lucy standing by the lake. Lisbon guided the poor woman over to the black SUV before driving them up the dusty driveway up to the main road.

In the next second Jimmy flew down the steps of the cabin barefooted, having put his shirt back on. He pushed roughly past Jane who was still standing in the doorway watching the moving vehicle.

"Lucy! Lucy! Wait! Lucy!" Jimmy shouted, running up the dirt track after the SUV but finally coming to a stop when he saw it was pointless and the speeding vehicle couldn't be caught. Jimmy stood trying to catch his breath watching the vehicle drive away into the darkness.

"Best give Lucy some space. For now," Jane advised as he slowly approached Jimmy watching the cloud of dust of the SUV in the distance.

"I've really fucked up," Jimmy admitted, his words breaking with emotion as tears filled his eyes and not caring if Jane saw him so vulnerable. The sound of heavy footsteps leaving the cabin behind them made Jane turn around. "Jackass!" the stripper yelled at the two men before storming up the dusty road with one stiletto on and carrying the other. Jimmy didn't even respond, just keeping his eyes firmly on the car carrying the woman he really loved.

"I've really fucked up," Jimmy repeated.

"Yeah, you have," Jane answered sadly. "Come on, I could do with a whiskey, so could you." Jane slowly guided Jimmy back to the cabin. There was no point in giving the man a hard time. Jimmy knew he had messed up and nothing Jane could say was going to make him feel any worse than he already did. Jane knew Jimmy hadn't set out to hurt Lucy in that way, and that he loved her. Unfortunately he had been thinking with his penis and not his brain, ending up with devastating consequences for both of them.

* * *

Lisbon swiftly pulled the key card from the slot of the hotel door. She walked into the small hotel room looking around at the bad décor. "Well, it's not the penthouse but at least it's clean," Lisbon said, placing Lucy's overnight bag down on the king size bed. A very despondent weepy Lucy followed her inside, slowly sitting down on the edge of the bed and sniffing into a wet tissue.

Lisbon paused, looking down at the crying woman and not quite sure how to comfort her. Crying women always made her feel out of her comfort zone. Suddenly Lucy spoke for the first time since leaving the SUV. "All I ever done is love him and this is how he treats me. By sleeping off with some… some… whore."

"He wasn't thinking, Lucy. He was really devastated when you ended things," Lisbon replied honestly, trying to justify her brother's stupid actions.

"Oh yeah!" Lucy snapped. "It really looks like it! He was so devastated he had to stick his head between her breasts!" Lucy wiped her nose on the worn out piece of tissue again and sobbed, remembering the sight of catching the busty blonde and Jimmy together in a very compromising position.

Lucy had arrived at the cabin and knocked on the front door of the lakeside cabin a few times before she tried the handle and it willingly opened. The lights were on in the beautiful new home and she had called out but got no answer. She heard muffled laughter coming from the back room. Calling out for Jimmy, Lucy had headed towards voices. Knocking and opening the door to the spare room it was then she had found a topless stripper straddling her half-dressed boyfriend on the guest bed.

Lisbon sighed, knowing no excuses could excuse her idiot brother's behaviour. "I am not excusing what Jimmy has done," Lisbon answered softly, "but I do know that he loves you Lucy and in the thirty- eight years since that jackass has walked this planet, you are the first woman he has ever really been in love with."

Lucy lifted her head to Lisbon's words, her eyes glistening with hope. "I am? He does?"

Lisbon nodded, seeing that it was clear her brother was worse than Jane was when it came to expressing words on how he really felt. This poor woman had no idea how her little brother felt for her.

"Yeah, you are." Lisbon smiled warmly, squeezing the younger woman's hand. "Look, try and get some rest and I will come by in the morning. I am sure you will feel better after a good night's sleep." Lisbon headed to the exit of the room but was stopped by Lucy's next question.

"How is it?" Lucy asked. Seeing the confusion appear on Teresa's face she motioned her head to her large baby bump. "Being pregnant, I mean, how is it?"

Slightly flummoxed by her unrelated question Lisbon turned back. "Oh, well, okay, I guess." Lisbon stood thinking about the question. "It's…very uncomfortable right now," she added honestly. The first six months had been fine but in the last few weeks her bump seemed to have grown so much she was less able to do what she normally would be able to do.

"Some women say it's the best experience they ever had," Lucy added, looking sadly down at her hands and playing with the worn out tissue.

"Well, then some women are lucky," Lisbon remarked, returning to the bed and sitting down next to the woman and running her hand over her bump. "It's great, most of the time, but it's not all fun and games, trust me," Lisbon confirmed, thinking more about the past few weeks. Her mood swings, the lack of bladder control, her sore ankles which were swollen twice in size in the hot weather, the extremely painful trapped wind that popped up when she least expected it and the fact she couldn't even bend down to pick up a pen, and had to begrudgingly ask Tork only earlier that day to help her pick one up from under her desk.

It suddenly occurred to Lisbon why Lucy would be asking such an odd question. Looking down she noticed Lucy's hand was unconsciously touching her stomach as she stared aimlessly to the ground in sadness.

"Lucy, are you… are you pregnant? Lisbon enquired. The young woman lifted her head up, fresh tears falling from her eyes indicating the truth. "This explains a few things," Lisbon mumbled, putting a gentle arm around the upset girl." It's why you wanted you and Jimmy to move in together. Isn't it?" she concluded. "Why didn't you just tell him?"

Lucy stood up for the first time, pacing the hotel room floor, "I didn't tell him because I want him to be with me, for me, not just because he knocked me up and feels he has to be. I will forever be wondering if he is with me for me or because of the baby."

Lisbon nodded, understanding Lucy reasons for holding back, she probably would have been the same way if it had been her.

"How far gone are you?"

"Ten weeks. I found out three weeks ago but Jimmy made it all so hard. In the end I thought if we had a break up he would miss me so much he'd come begging back and I would know how he really felt." Lucy slumped back down on the bed dejectedly. "That blew up in my face didn't it?" she said, shaking her head at how badly her life was right now.

"You need to tell him. About the baby," Lisbon told her. Whilst her brother was a prize idiot he still deserved to know about his own child.

"Why?" Lucy snapped. "I mean, I don't even know if I will keep it, especially not after all this." Lucy stated bitterly, but Lisbon knew full well she was speaking out of anger. Jimmy had told her how much Lucy loved working with children and being a mother was clearly something Lucy dreamed of in her future. Her judgement right now was being clouded by the horrible memory of Jimmy being caught with another woman.

"Lucy, I know you're upset but please don't make any decisions right now. You're angry and I get why, but promise me you will think about this some more, and at least talk to Jimmy first."

Lucy nodded knowing Lisbon was right. "Okay."

Lisbon gently squeezed Lucy's shoulder before heading back to the door of the room to leave. Having more time to reflect on her question, Lisbon paused, turning back round again.

"What I said about being pregnant is true. It has been a struggle at times but it also the most amazing experience too," she told her. "Every kick and movement I feel this little one make is incredible, every foot or hand I see poking out my belly makes we realise how lucky I am. Some people never get to have that experience. We are the lucky ones," Lisbon told Lucy sincerely, hoping her parting words would help the younger woman see things more clearly.

It suddenly dawned on Lisbon that she hadn't really savoured every minute of carrying her own baby so far, having been caught up with all the difficulties instead. It could possibly be the only opportunity she got in her lifetime so she needed to saviour it.

"I don't want to talk him. You won't tell Jimmy where I am, will you? Promise?" Lucy pleaded with Lisbon, too upset and angry with Jimmy right now. Understanding Lucy's upset Lisbon smiled warmly. "No, I won't tell him. Promise."

"Thank you, Teresa, you are the best sister in law I've ever had." Lucy told her sweetly. Touched by her kind and heartfelt words Lisbon made a silent promise to herself to try and get to know the sweet girl in Jimmy's life more, if she ever got the chance. "You too. I will see you tomorrow. Try get some rest."

* * *

It was a little after midnight when Lisbon re-entered the cabin. She found both Jane and Jimmy both sitting quietly waiting for her in the living area. The minute Jimmy saw his sister enter through the front door he moved towards her. "Reece, where is Lucy? is she okay?"

Lisbon purposely ignored her brother, removing her bag and placing her keys down on the dining table. Knowing he was receiving the cold silent treatment Jimmy raised his voice higher. "Reece? I am begging you. Tell me!" Having had enough for one day Lisbon spun round to confront her brother. "No! I won't. She needs some time to calm down. She doesn't want to speak to you right now. You have completely devastated her."

Jimmy dipped his head in shame feeling like the biggest jerk ever born. "I never meant for this to happen," he said truthfully running his hands over his face.

"What were you even doing, Jimmy!" Lisbon snapped angrily. Jane approached her from behind seeing that her blood pressure was quickly rising. It wasn't good for her or the baby and he needed her to remain calm. He placed a calming hand on her back which seemed to work a little.

"We weren't having sex, we were just… fooling around," Jimmy pleaded awkwardly, hoping that would somehow help with his defence. Jimmy glanced down to his crutch to explain. "Jimmy junior wasn't co-operating too well. Too much alcohol."

"Urrr."Lisbon growled in disgust at the mental image her brother had just created in her head. "You're an idiot, Jimmy. Do you know that! A complete and utter idiot."

"I thought she was out on a date with another guy! I would have never called Candi over otherwise," Jimmy yelled, trying to justify his massive fuck up. Lisbon shook her head in disgust at her younger brother. She turned on her heels heading into the kitchen, having had enough of him for one night. Jane sighed, foreseeing a big row coming when Jimmy quickly followed in her footsteps. Jane quickly grabbed his arm. "Go easy," he told him firmly, not wanting his wife any more stressed than she already was. Jimmy nodded, taking a moment to calm himself. He entered the kitchen, his tone becoming softer. "Please, Reece, tell me where she is. I need to see her. I need to go talk to her."

Lisbon sighed, exhausted. Pouring herself a glass of water from the fridge she finally turned to her little brother. "Just go to bed, Jimmy. You have caused enough trouble for one night," she told him harshly before walking out and into her bedroom leaving a distraught Jimmy alone.

* * *

An hour later, once Lisbon had retired to bed and finally fallen asleep, Jane decided to check up on Jimmy. He found the spare room was empty and found his brother in law sat quietly outside on the steps of the cabin veranda watching the night sky.

"Give her time to calm down. She'll come around," Jane said, walking out on the dark veranda the hot humid air hitting him hard. Jane passed Jimmy a large glass of whiskey, taking a seat down next to him on the steps. It was a very warm sticky night in Austin, so the coolness of the ice against his lips felt refreshing.

"Who? Lucy? Or my sister?" Jimmy replied, taking the tumbler glass gratefully from Jane's hand quickly knocking back the shot in one go hoping it would help ease his pain.

"Both."

"You reckon," Jimmy scoffed. "My own sister hates me. Lucy will never ever speak to me again. I've fucked it all up," Jimmy said, his voice breaking with emotion.

"Trust me, Teresa doesn't hate you, she could never hate you, "Jane told him. "She will come around, give her a night to sleep on it. She will be calm in the morning. I am the prime example of her caring and forgiving nature and I have been a bigger idiot than you in the past."

"Have you ever brought a stripper back and had your girlfriend and your sister catch you at it?"

"No, never that…" Jane said, grimacing at that particular image. "But I did sleep with the mistress of a psychopath and then let her inform the woman I love about it."

Jimmy did a double take at Jane's words, not quite understanding. There was so much about his and his sister's relationship Jimmy had no idea on but, hey, who was he to judge? He had just made the biggest mistake in his life and paying heavily for it.

"See? Forgiving," Jane added, sipping on his own whiskey, reliving the memories of his own past mistakes. "Try get some sleep." Jane slowly stood, placing a comforting hand on Jimmy's shoulder.

He knew his brother in law felt like he had just lost the two most important people in his world at the moment and he had genuine sympathy for the guy. He too was a man that had made many a mistake with the people he loved in his life time, so he understood that feeling of loss. Whilst stupid with his recent choices, James Lisbon loved his big sister, and his girlfriend, and deep down he was a good man. Stupid at times but still good. Jane made his way back in to the cabin knowing he would have to try help fix his new family somehow.

"I am sorry," Jimmy said looking back at Jane as he entered the cabin.

"I know you are... but it's not me you need to apologise to," Jane told him softly, slowly shutting the cabin door behind him.

* * *

The next morning Lisbon walked into the kitchen to find that breakfast had already been made and the table was laid. She knew it wasn't Jane who had prepared it as he was still in the bedroom getting ready. "Hey, you're up," Jimmy said chirpily, entering the kitchen. Lisbon eyed her brother suspiciously as he placed a plate full of pancakes down at the table. It was only just gone seven am and she was surprised to see her brother up at this time in the morning. He normally didn't wake until gone midday.

"What's this?"

"It's my way of apologising for all the mess I caused you last night. You're right, I was a complete idiot and I am really sorry," Jimmy told her sincerely, hoping she would hear the truth in his apology. Lisbon exhaled a deep breath knowing her brother was trying to make an effort and apologise for his mistakes. Never being able to be too mad at her youngest sibling for too long she smiled warmly at him. "Apology accepted... but it's not me you need to apologise to, Jimmy."

"I know, it's Lucy and I will. Well, if she will ever let me."

"I said I would go see her later on today but she doesn't want to see you right now, Jimmy," Lisbon said softly seeing the clear upset and disappointment in her brother eyes. Jimmy nodded, looking like he had just been kicked in the gut. His eyes glazed over for a second but he put on a brave face. "Just tell Lucy I am sorry. Okay, just tell her I…tell her…" Jimmy paused but was unable to find the words he wanted to say, "…it doesn't matter."

Lisbon squeezed Jimmy's hand, seeing how hard he found it to say how he really felt, just like she did. Whilst she knew he had been a complete moron the night before he was still her little brother and there was still the matter of his baby to think about. She promised herself she would have a good chat with Lucy when she went to see her later that day, see if she could help calm the waters somehow for her brother.

Jane entered the kitchen and made his way over to breakfast filled table. "Well, this looks impressive." He said kissing the top of Lisbon's head and giving jimmy a nod hello.

"Jimmy did it," Lisbon said cheerfully but her attention turned back towards the bedroom as her cell shrilled into life. "That's my phone." Quickly Lisbon left the kitchen table, leaving her husband and brother alone together.

"My way of apologising," Jimmy said, picking up his orange juice explaining he reasons for the breakfast delights he had prepared for them all.

"Well, it looks lovely and it seems to have worked on Teresa." Jane nodded, pouring himself a cup of his favourite tea and happy to see the two siblings had made the peace once more.

"Just Lucy left now. But I don't think anything I can say will help with that situation." Jimmy sighed, deflated, pushing back in his chair knowing there was no amount of pancakes that was going to make up for what he had had done to his girlfriend.

Jane stared over his turquoise mug staring out of the window to the lake for a few minutes. Slowly a big grin appeared on his face. "I am sure we can think of something to win her back," Jane told Jimmy, grinning widely as a plan began forming in his brilliant complex mind.


End file.
